Showing posts with label attempted suicide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label attempted suicide. Show all posts

Friday, February 15, 2019

Special Forces Veterans hitting suicide where it lives

Commandos to Counselors: A response to the special operations forces mental health crisis


Military Times
By: John Hollis
February 14, 2019
This is a fight and the creeds that we live by dictate that we never go into a fight unprepared. As with any mission, we need to train, organize, and prepare in order to succeed. Interventions are already being undertaken on an informal basis through social networks of SOF veterans.


There is a growing mental health crisis among members of the U.S. Special Operations Forces community that is not being adequately addressed.

On Feb. 2, 2019, CNN reported that suicides among those currently serving with U.S. Special Operations Command tripled last year. Although data specific to SOCOM veterans is not currently available, a recent study by the VA found that, between 2005 and 2015, veteran suicides increased 25.9 percent.

While the precise scope of the problem among SOF veterans remains unclear, anyone with access to forums like the closed social media groups that serve as an ad hoc support system for the community can see that the situation is getting worse. The most effective solution to this national crisis requires the direct involvement of SOF veterans trained to provide mental health services to their comrades.

After leaving active duty and transitioning back to civilian life, many SOF veterans struggle with serious mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress and depression. In the context of this difficult transition from the battlefield to the home front, a mindset that fosters success in the world of special operations can become a double-edged sword. Fighting through injuries and ignoring pain to complete the mission may be what is required in the short term, but insistence on our own invincibility over the long term can prove fatal.
read more here

Something like this is very much needed. When you look back at the way it was years ago, it is obvious that even after all the publicity PTSD had gained over the years, the end result is, more have lost their lives to suicide.

This is about attempted suicides, yet one more thing that does not get discussed enough. It is not from the VA but from the National Institute of Health.
During 1993-1998, 10,163 veterans were treated and discharged at a VA medical center after a suicide attempt (mean age = 44 years; 91% male).
That was reported in 2011. 

The DOD has been doing their own reporting on attempted suicides too. This report is from 2016.


Incidence of Attempted Suicide Over the course of CY 2016, 1,263 non-fatal suicide attempts were identified. The associated DoDSER reports provided data on suicide attempts for 1,218 unique individuals. A total 1,182 had a single suicide-attempt reported; 36 had two or more suicide attempts reported, dating back to 2010. The median number of days between the most recent suicide attempt and the penultimate attempt was 82 days. 


And this is part of the report from CNN about Special Forces Suicides.
Washington (CNN)Suicides among active duty military personnel assigned to US Special Operations Command tripled in 2018, in a disturbing and as yet unexplained spike, CNN has learned.

Special Operations units saw 22 deaths by suicide in 2018, almost triple the eight cases seen in 2017, according to figures provided to CNN by the command.

SOCOM, as it's known, is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations component of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force that take on counterterrorism and other specialized missions.

Based in Tampa, Florida, the command includes some of the military's most highly trained and effective fighting forces, including the Army's Delta Force and the Navy's SEAL Team Six.

While sudden spikes in suicide rates have been noted in both the military and civilian populations, military officials who spoke to CNN said what has happened at SOCOM is striking. The surge in SOCOM suicides comes as the Marine Corps and Navy are experiencing 10-year highs in the number of suicide deaths.
The good thing is that a lot more people are not willing to wait for our government to do something about all of this.

Much like we knew more than they know now, we learned the hard way in the 80's and I learned from people who were doing this in the 70's. 

So why is no one listening to any of us? Do they think PTSD has changed?

Monday, February 11, 2019

Veteran attempting to break Guinness World Record for "suicide awareness"

World Record attempt to raise awareness about veteran suicide


My Champlain Valley
Posted: Feb 11, 2019

BERLIN, Vt - On March 22, Jason Mosel will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record for most 'chest-to-ground burpees' in 12 hours to raise awareness for veteran suicide.
Jason Mosel. On Friday, March 22, Mosel will be attempting to break the Guinness World Record for most chest to ground burpees in 12 hours in an attempt to raise awareness of veteran suicide.


Mosel is hoping to beat the current record of 4,556. The event will be held at Snap Fitness in Berlin.

Mosel says his personal record is 3,000, which he did during the second night of the Death Race in July of 2018. At the age of 33, he says he does a minimum of 3,000 burpees per week and is ready to grab the record-holding title.

Mosel is a former Marine with a deployment to Iraq under his belt. After returning from that deployment, he says he struggled with depression, sleepless nights, and alcoholism. The struggles came to a head In 2005, when he attempted suicide.

Mosel says this effort is an attempt at pulling back the cover of veteran suicide, and the stigma of depression in general. The topic is something he has a real connection with, and is why he's streaming the event live online.
read more here

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Unpaid Border Patrol Agent Saved Suicidal Man

Border Patrol agent working without pay helps suicidal man


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jan 24th 2019

NEWPORT, Mich. (AP) — A sheriff's deputy and a Border Patrol agent who's working without pay during the partial government shutdown are being hailed as heroes for saving a suicidal man from a Michigan bridge.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Maitland and Monroe County Deputy Brian Sroka helped save a 64-year-old man from the CN Railroad Bridge this month in Newport, The Detroit News reported.

The two were among the officers responding to a call that a man appeared to be preparing to jump from the bridge. They say that as Sroka spoke to the man, Maitland approached from behind and pulled the man from the edge of the bridge.
read more here

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Iraq veteran survived combat and suicide attempt

I survived combat in Iraq and a suicide attempt at home. But many veterans aren't so lucky.


USA Today
Danny O'Neal
January 16, 2019
Sometimes, trauma can be more deadly than war itself. But the VA's existing mental health services are woefully inadequate for a growing problem.

I'm supposed to be a statistic.
Army soldiers who had been in the Iraq War prepare to fly home to Fort Hood, Texas, from Kuwait in 2011. (Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images,)
On July 14, 2012, drowning in grief and guilt, I tried to kill myself. Like so many veterans, I had found civilian life desperately difficult. War had drained me of joy. The sights, sounds and smells of the battlefield had been relentlessly looping in my head. The suffering seemed endless. And so, thinking there were no other options of escape, I turned to suicide.

Luckily, I survived. I avoided becoming one of the 20 veterans who kill themselves every day in this country. But I also witnessed firsthand all the ways that our nation's mental health resources fail our fighting men and women. Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and the military simply aren't equipped to properly treat sick vets. We must do better.

I enlisted in the military on Sept. 11, 2001. My first major combat experience came on a deployment to Sadr City, Iraq, in the winter of 2005, the apex of the insurgency.

War inflicts permanent psychic scars on survivors. Scrubbing a friend's flesh out of a Bradley reconnaissance vehicle, packing up the cold clothes of a new dad to ship home to his family, pulling tortured corpses out of a water treatment facility — the trauma from these experiences is deep and lasting.
read more here

Friday, January 11, 2019

Police Officer saved suicidal man because of Marine training

Quick thinking Columbus police officer saves man from suicide


Four States
By: Jeremiah Cook
Posted: Jan 08, 2019
Officer Gurney says training he received in the Marine Corps, and during his time with the Columbus Police Department is what turned tragedy into a chance to get someone in need help. But Columbus Police Chief Jason Daniels says who officer Gurney is played just as big a role in how things turned out.
The quick thinking of a police officer is being credited with saving the life of a Columbus man, and giving a community the opportunity to discuss a nation-wide problem.

"It was clearly someone who was distressed, someone who needed help, and so my primary goal was to get him that help,” says Officer Christopher Gurney.

Just after midnight Monday morning, Columbus police officer Christopher Gurney says he was on a routine patrol of the city when the first call for help came in. Police chief Jason Daniels says what happened next should send a strong message to the entire community.

When Gurney arrived on scene, he says all he knew was that someone needed help. Around 12:30 Monday morning, dispatch called for an officer to respond to reports of someone preparing to commit suicide. Officer Gurney has only been with the Columbus Police Department for five months, but credits the knowledge passed on to him by his fellow officers for giving him the tools he needed to think fast and save a man's life.
read more here

Sunday, December 16, 2018

PTSD Vietnam veteran died getting out of moving ambulance

Jury awards $7 million to family of Vietnam vet who died after climbing out of moving ambulance

Chicago Tribune
Mike Nolan
December 14, 2018

Bonamarte said the ambulance was traveling at about 30 to 35 miles per hour when Stein climbed out, and he suffered multiple injuries, including head and rib fractures. Lawyers speculated that confusion brought on by PTSD prompted Stein to leave the ambulance.
A jury has awarded $7 million to the family of Patrick Stein, shown, who died in July 2014 after climbing out of a moving ambulance. (Law firm of Levin and Perconti)


Cook County Circuit Court jury has awarded $7 million to the family of a Vietnam veteran from the south suburbs who died in 2014 after climbing out of a moving ambulance, according to an attorney who represented the family.

Patrick Stein, 64, who lived in Matteson at the time, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after two tours of duty in Vietnam, according to the law firm Levin and Perconti.

The verdict in the wrongful death lawsuit was reached late Wednesday, Michael Bonamarte, an attorney with the firm, said Friday.

Stein had been brought to St. James Olympia Fields Hospital in July 2014 after his family had found him outside his daughter’s home with a butcher knife clutched to his abdomen, according to the firm.

Medical staff at the hospital diagnosed the man as having an altered mental status, acute confusion and suicidal behavior, according to the firm, and recommended Stein be transferred to Edward Hines Veterans Affairs hospital in Maywood, where psychiatric services were available. While at St. James, Stein didn’t recall the episode with the knife, according to the firm.
read more here

Monday, December 10, 2018

Police Officer saved suicidal woman by restoring hope

'There's hope for tomorrow,' DNR officer tells woman contemplating suicide on MacArthur Bridge


WXYZ 7 ABC News
Jennifer Wilson
December 9, 2018
"There's hope for tomorrow," he assured the woman. "It might be bad right now, but there's hope for tomorrow to be better."

DETROIT (WXYZ) - A DNR conservation officer is a hero after saving a young woman's life on Friday. It happened on the MacArthur Bridge, which connects Detroit to Belle Isle.

A 25-year-old woman in distress was saved by an officer who was there when she needed him the most.

Between the parties and the presents, we often focus on the joy and fun of the holidays, but there are a lot of people who really struggle this time of year.

Everywhere you look, messages of good cheer and hope abound but what you see doesn't always reflect what you feel.

"Holiday seasons are hard," says Ben Lasher, a conservation officer with the Department of Natural Resources. "A lot of people have strong feelings, good or bad, and this young lady was having a hard time. And I was able to be in the right place at the right time."
read more here

Lyrics
If you wake up and don't want to smileIf it takes just a little whileOpen your eyes and look at the dayYou'll see things in a different wayDon't stop thinking about tomorrowDon't stop, it'll soon be hereIt'll be, better than beforeYesterday's gone, yesterday's goneWhy not think about times to come?And not about the things that you've doneIf your life was bad to youJust think what tomorrow will doDon't stop thinking about tomorrowDon't stop, it'll soon be hereIt'll be, better than before,Yesterday's gone, yesterday's goneAll I want is to see you smileIf it takes just a little whileI know you don't believe that it's trueI never meant any harm to youDon't stop thinking about tomorrowDon't stop, it'll soon be hereIt'll be, better than before,Yesterday's gone, yesterday's goneDon't stop thinking about tomorrowDon't stop, it'll soon be hereIt'll be, better than beforeYesterday's gone, yesterday's goneOoh, don't you look backOoh, don't you look backOoh, don't you look backOoh, don't you look backSongwriters: Christine McVieDon't Stop lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Friday, December 7, 2018

“If it weren’t for Sgt. Bass, I probably would have killed myself,”

Nash County deputy honored for service


Rocky Mountain Telegram
BY LINDELL JOHN KAY
Staff Writer
Friday, December 7, 2018
“If it weren’t for Sgt. Bass, I probably would have killed myself,” the veteran said, according to reports

A Nash County deputy has been recognized for his life-saving compassionate community service.

Sgt. Scott Bass was recognized as Deputy of the Year earlier this week by the Nash County Board of Commissioners. Bass has convinced suicidal gunmen to surrender without violence and appeared on national television for helping a woman find a quicker way to work than walking, often in inclement weather.

Employed with the county since 2010, Bass has served primarily in the Patrol Division and was promoted to sergeant last year.

During the short ceremony to recognize Bass, Chief Deputy Brandon Medina described him as being kind and compassionate with a very generous heart.

Bass' heroism and care for the people he serves as a deputy has been repeatedly demonstrated by his actions.

In 2017, Bass and other deputies responded to the call of a missing and possibly suicidal person.

A high-ranking member of the military, the missing man was located down a secluded path. He was armed. Bass began to reason with the man and ordered the other deputies to fall back, putting himself between a suicidal man with a gun and his fellow law enforcement officers.

Another time in 2017, Bass, while in Raleigh attending specialized training, ate lunch with a friend.

After leaving the restaurant, Bass was about to pull away in his marked patrol car when a man ran up and said a business was being robbed.

"Without hesitation, Sgt. Bass responded to the business and apprehended the suspect, holding him until proper authorities arrived," Medina said.

In February, Bass responded to a call for service where he again spoke with a military veteran who was having a hard time coping with life.

"Being a veteran himself, Sgt. Bass was empathetic and provided the necessary assistance as soon as he recognized that he was dealing with someone suffering from severe mental distress," Medina said.

read more here

Monday, November 26, 2018

Week after attempted suicide, UK veteran succeeded

My son was left to die alone


The Express UK
By SIAN HEWITT
Nov 25, 2018

A GRIEVING mother has told of a string of failures that led to her war hero son killing himself. Danny Johnston of the Special Reconnaissance, sister unit of the SAS, took his own life in May while suffering post-traumatic stress disorder.
PROUD... Danny loved his career in the Army but the force he served went on to ignore his plight (Image: Mark Kehoe)
"It is only since his death that I have been made aware of the incredible work he did," Mrs Johnston said. "He was a genuine hero." But Danny's career was cut short when, on leave, he was found with non-prescription Valium. Mrs Johnston said: "He never slept well. He had seen a lot - I still don't know the depths of what he witnessed but he used the Valium to sleep, only while he was off duty at home. But he was immediately discharged.

Now his mother Viv has revealed the blunders that led to the 35-year-old elite soldier's body being found in woodland near his home in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, three days after he went missing. Mrs Johnston reveals how: ? Danny had made an attempt on his life a week before his death but doctors failed to help him. She was forced to call for help from ex-Army colleagues to form a search party after an "inadequate" police response.

A police officer falsely announced on social media that Danny had been found, a mistake which resulted in search efforts dwindling while Danny was still missing.

Family friend and Coronation Street actor Daniel Brocklebank, who plays Billy Mayhew, joined in the search and also made a missing person's appeal on Twitter.

"Danny was too special to die alone the way he did," Mrs Johnston said. "He gave his all for this country, only to be completely let down in his hour of need.
read more here

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Suicidal veteran lost lawsuit against Tampa Police

Man loses suit against Tampa police after being shot in face during attempted suicide call


Tampa Bay Times
Anastasia Dawson
Times Staff
November 24, 2018

A Tampa real estate agent’s four-year legal battle against the city of Tampa and its police department came to an end last week, when a jury sided with the officer who shot him twice in the face during a call meant to prevent his suicide.
Jason and Amanda Turk pose with their three daughters (from left) Emily, 12, with daughters Emily, 12, Anabel, 3, and Adeline, 5. [Courtesy of Jason Turk]
The federal lawsuit Jason Turk filed in August 2014 claimed that the city and then-Chief Jane Castor failed to provide the necessary de-escalation and crisis intervention training required for officers to successfully answer calls for help involving the mentally ill.

“I want the Tampa Police Department to take crisis intervention training more seriously and implement it into their training the way the (Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office) and countless police departments across the country do," Turk, 42, told the Tampa Bay Times. "It is an important component of policing because most calls into police involve some sort of mental health crisis. Not every call is about chasing down a bad guy."

One call for help came from Turk's wife, Amanda, in the early morning of Jan. 9, 2014. Turk, an 11-year Navy veteran, had become estranged from his wife and was suffering from severe depression. He was drinking heavily that night when he recorded himself reading aloud from a suicide note and sent the video to his wife, who then called 911.

She told the operator her husband was threatening to kill himself, and added a crucial detail: “He knows if cops come and he won’t put down the gun that they’ll shoot him,” she can be heard telling the operator in a recording of the 911 call. The police classified the call a “suicide by cop.”

It still haunts her, she said.

Turk admits he had a pistol in his lap when K-9 Officer Timothy Bergman spotted him sitting in his car as it idled in the driveway of the Tampa Heights home where Turk moved during a trial separation from his wife. But Turk insists the only person ever threatened by the weapon was himself.
read more here

Monday, September 17, 2018

There is so much more that can be in your story.

What more should be in your story?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
September 17, 2018

Every now and then, it gets hard to do more than stare at a blank screen. Flipping through emails, mostly mindless reports feeling more and more empty, it gets hard to find a reason to not walk away from the computer.

Today was one of those days.  I went through emails going back over 10 years, hoping to be encouraged, as usual, but this time, I was more discouraged.

How the hell did I go from being the go-to on PTSD to being buried by the BS that has taken over social media?

It is easy to feel useless. Easy to think that I've really given all I have to give. Nothing new to say, because nothing has changed in the basic design of humans but there are just more needing help.

Maybe that is what I needed to see today. Believing in what you are doing, being able to do it, can become so much a part of your identity, it is in your DNA.

Being reminded of that feeling of being useless, it is easier for me to explain why men and women, put their lives on the line willingly, get wounded or disabled, and it rips their soul to not be able to do it any longer.

It became a part of who they were, not just what they did. They paid dearly for every ounce of courage, every pull of compassion and every hopeful step they walked while believing, it was not just a matter of they could make a difference, but had to try.

To believe that there is nothing more they can give, just shows how blind we have made them to be. We allow some to beat them down as if they are broken beyond repair. We let them feel sorry for themselves instead of helping them stand up. They cannot see the value they still have by being in the unique position to help all the others just like them.

This veteran from the UK lived to tell of how he knew what it was like to become "useless" in his own eyes because he could not see the truth was still within his soul.

The ex-soldier survived the suicide bid and says that it helped him appreciate his life more
An ex-soldier who jumped in front of a train while suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder has apologised to those who witnessed his attempted suicide. Perry Tatler kissed his two young children goodbye for what he believed was for the last time before heading to the train station. Despite throwing himself in front of a train, the 29-year-old survived to encourage suicidal people to seek help. The father of two remains in hospital five months on, having sustained a broken back, shoulder and ribs, and a bleed on the brain.
read more of this story here 

Trying to help others stay alive! Isn't that a lot better than talking about something they already know how to do? They already know how to die...they don't know how to heal!

There is so much more that can be in your story. You just need to know how to keep adding to the ending!

Friday, September 14, 2018

Suicide Survivor "journey of happiness and celebration"

Suicide survivor sharing hope with Missoula students
KTVH NBC News
Anna Penner-Ray
September 13, 2018

MISSOULA – Willard Alternative High School in Missoula invited musician and suicide survivor David Simmons to host a three-day workshop as part of National Suicide Prevention Week.

Simmons says he’s been inspired to bring awareness and education to teenagers and says his message is a celebration of life in the wake of his 2009 suicide attempt.

Willard students will collaborate with Simmons during the workshop to write a song about a journey of happiness and celebration.

Simmons says it’s a natural fit to use his musical and educational background to reach the students, and the connection is tremendous.

“The reason music works for me is that it instantly gives kids a voice. The two things for me are never give up, tell your story — just keep those things going,” said Simmons who founded the UBU Project.

“If you plant that seed with someone young enough hopefully they don’t get to the point that I did in later years, because they will be in the habit of telling their stories and expressing themselves,” he added.
read more here

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Air Force veteran with 6 tours crisis at Tampa Airport

VIDEO: Unruly traveler arrested after making scene at TIA because of flight delay
ABC Action News
Mary Stringini, Michael Paluska
Sep 12, 2018
Carmen Rodriguez said her husband was deployed six times over the course of 15 years serving in the Air Force. Recently, she says her husband had threatened suicide.
TAMPA, Fla. — An unruly traveler was arrested after causing a ruckus at Tampa International Airport on Wednesday because he was upset about a delayed flight, officials say.
The incident took place around 2 p.m. in Terminal A outside gate A-12. According to Tampa International Airport officials, the male traveler, identified as Ralph Rodriguez-Hernandez, 36, was waiting to board a Jet Blue flight to San Juan when he became upset because his plane was delayed. Officials say the traveler threatened to kill the ticket agent at the gate.

Video captured of the incident shows the man remove his pants as he yells, "No f****** bomb. I have no f****** bomb."
read more here

Friday, September 7, 2018

Why are soldiers still not getting mental health help?

Soldiers who attempt suicide often have no history of mental health issues
Reuters
Lisa Rapaport
September 5, 2018
Previous combat injuries were also associated with a 60 percent higher risk of suicide attempts among soldiers without a history of mental illness.

(Reuters Health) - More than one-third of U.S. Army soldiers who attempt suicide don’t have a history of mental health problems, a recent study suggests.

Attempted suicides have become more common among enlisted soldiers since the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, researchers note in JAMA Psychiatry. While a history of mental illness has long been linked to an increased risk of suicide among military service members and civilians alike, less is known about the risk among soldiers who haven’t been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders.

For the current study, researchers examined data on 9,650 active-duty Army soldiers who attempted suicide between 2004 and 2009 as well as a control group of more than 153,000 soldiers who didn’t attempt suicide.

Overall, 3,507, or 36 percent, of the soldiers who attempted suicide had no previous diagnosis of mental illness, the study found.

“Soldiers without a mental health diagnosis may have had mental health problems but had not reported them to their medical care teams,” said lead author Dr. Robert Ursano, director of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.
read more here


Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Montana suicide rate is getting worse but people are fighting back

Montana had the highest suicide rate in the country
NBC News
by Phil McCausland, Elizabeth Chuck and Annie Flanagan
Aug.28.2018 


Then budget cuts hit.

Suicide has been a persistent problem in Montana — and it’s getting worse. Now, some who have lost loved ones are mobilizing to stop the deaths.

“It’s one of those things, especially if you’re a male, not to ask for help,” Ranalli, 39, said. “People I served with, they don’t want to reach out and say ‘Hey, I’m having some problems, and I need to talk to somebody.’”
Ranalli spends an evening with his family. He plans to be open with his six children about his mental health so they feel comfortable discussing any struggles with him. Annie Flanagan / for NBC News
For Ranalli, the problems started in 2005 after several Army buddies in his unit were killed in Iraq, some by a bomb, others in a firefight. The same year, on his second deployment there, Ranalli was hit by a roadside bomb, ending his dream of a long Army career. He returned home with a traumatic brain injury, stuck in a cycle of nightmares, flashbacks, anger, depression and anxiety. The following year, two more friends died while fighting in Iraq. By 2012, Ranalli was overwhelmed by survivor’s guilt and frustration over his inability to rejoin the Army. One night, his wife found him in their garage, blackout drunk and attempting suicide.

But he fought back!
“I felt like a burden,” he said. “I’ve seen what [suicide] does to families, but at the time, you just don’t think about it.”

Ranalli’s wife convinced him to get help, but it eventually became clear that the treatment he needed wasn’t available in Helena. There was a traveling VA clinic that came through once a month, but nothing permanent, so he underwent months of treatment out of state, in San Diego.

After his health improved and he returned home, Ranalli decided to channel his frustration with Montana’s mental health care shortfalls into action. He worked on a letter-writing campaign for a permanent veterans mental health clinic in his hometown, and this spring, the Helena Vet Center held its grand opening. So far, it’s provided over 1,055 mental health visits to nearly 150 veterans and family members. Ranalli is one of them; he receives treatment there for post-traumatic stress disorder. click link to read more

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

VA Employees saved suicidal man on I 10 overpass

VA employee helps save man's life on Interstate 10 overpass
FOX Phoenix 10 News
August 21, 2018
"He has just that absolute frustrated look on his face. That look on someone's face. You can tell deep inside, he was really hurting," said Odis Bailey. "You could tell the mixed emotions of rage, sadness."


PHOENIX (KSAZ) -- A man shut down part of the I-10 freeway in Downtown Phoenix during the morning rush hour, threatening to jump from an overpass into oncoming traffic.

Four people pulled over to help, and one man even climbed to the top of the overpass, in an effort to try and save a stranger's life.

The man was on top of the 3rd Avenue pedestrian bridge. Before law enforcement got involved, a group of Phoenix VA employees stopped their morning commute to help. The man was a stranger to them, but his distress was all too familiar.
Bailey climbed up the fence too, and they spent about 15 minutes talking. 
"The first part was basically trying to comfort him, that I do care, I was up here because I cared about him," said Bailey. "He had some family issues. Father who had passed away, battling drugs, dealing with not having contact with his son, and the straw that broke the camels back was he was sleeping behind a bush, and someone kicked him out."
read more here

Monday, July 30, 2018

Veteran thanked Officer who saved him from suicide

Veteran who considered taking his life thanks cop who saved him
By:KXAN
Posted: Jul 29, 2018

GRANITE SHOALS, TX (KXAN) - Granite Shoals Police Officer Tim Edwards received a challenge coin Friday for getting a veteran mental health treatment when he was about to end his life two weeks ago.

Air Force veteran Larry Guynes says he has struggled with depression and anxiety. The medication he was taking didn't sit well with him and he contemplated killing himself.
"I called the suicide hotline," he said. "I was on the phone with them and unknowingly they called Officer Edwards in."

Edwards was dispatched to Guynes' home.

"When I saw him, I instantly saw somebody who was looking for help," Edwards said.

Edwards says the lessons he learned from crisis intervention training kicked in.

"He was standing in his front yard on his phone when I walked up," Edwards said. "I just gave him the opportunity to speak, let him tell me what's on his mind."

Guynes didn't feel threatened by Edwards, saying he was quiet and calming.

"My focus immediately shifted," Guynes said. "I wasn't thinking about harming myself any longer. It was immediate. It was astounding."

"He had a plan," Edwards said. "I believe he would've went through with it if we would not have intervened that evening."

Guynes was the one who handed Officer Edwards his challenge coin. Etched on the back is the quote "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid," by former President Ronald Reagan.
read more here

Friday, July 20, 2018

Gun to head, Colonel better off not dead because of Dad

Colonel: I pointed the pistol at myself ... then my dad came into my head 
News Letter UK 
Philip Brandfield 
7/20/2018
"I thought – I can’t deal with this anymore. At that instant a picture of my father came into my head and he said something to me."
Colonel Philip Ingram

Col Philip Ingram from Co Tyrone, overcame post traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts
A former Army officer who is thought to be the most senior person in the forces to disclose his battle with post traumatic stress disorder, has assured sufferers that “there is hope” and that he has been able to get his “normal” personality back.

Fifty-three-year-old Colonel Philip Ingram, who is originally from Tyrone but now lives in Birmingham, was the most senior British Army intelligence officer in western Iraq in 2005 when a combination of pressures wore him down to crisis point.

Flying across the sector by Chinook on an advance reconnaissance mission, his helicopter was just coming in to land.

“Suddenly a cold shiver went down my back and I just had this feeling, I have to phone back to Basra to the guy I was taking over from,” he said.
He then considered what impact suicide might have on his soldiers who would find him, and put his pistol away. He was “only microseconds” away from taking his life.
read more here

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Veteran shot himself at Phoenix VA hospital Chapel

Man in critical condition after shooting himself at Phoenix VA
Associated Press
July 13, 2018

PHOENIX (AP) - Authorities say a man has been critically injured after shooting himself on the grounds of the Phoenix Veterans Affairs complex.
Phoenix police Sgt. Armando Carbajal says the shooting occurred just after 11 a.m. at the central Phoenix facility.
read more here

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

58 year old veteran set himself on fire at Georgia Capitol

UPDATE July 3, 2018 from Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — State investigators say a man who identified himself as an Air Force veteran has died after he lit himself on fire in front of the Georgia Capitol last week to protest the Veterans Affairs system.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation tweeted Tuesday that 58-year-old John Michael Watts died Monday. Authorities say Watts strapped fireworks to his chest, doused himself with a flammable liquid and set himself on fire June 26. A state trooper who saw what was happening quickly put out the flames. 

UPDATE from Atlanta Journal
About 10:45 a.m., the 58-year-old Air Force veteran from Mableton parked a Nissan Sentra on Washington Street, stepped out of the car and walked toward the Capitol, GSP Capt. Mark Perry told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Veteran sets himself on fire in protest outside Georgia Capitol
Military Times
By: J.D. Simkins
3 hours ago

A veteran who was fed up with treatment by the Department of Veterans Affairs set himself on fire in protest outside of the Georgia state Capitol building in downtown Atlanta on Tuesday.
A veteran protesting treatment from the Department of Veterans affairs set himself on fire outside of the Georgia Capitol building on Tuesday. (Stephen Morton/Getty Images)
The 58-year-old from Mableton, Georgia, who has not yet been identified, parked his car alongside the Capitol before walking toward the building, where he commenced self-immolation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“He was strapped with some homemade incendiary devices (and) firecrackers, and doused himself with some kind of flammable liquid,” Georgia State Patrol Capt. Mark Perry told the AJC.
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