We live on a paradise island where people come from around the world to spend their holidays on tropical beaches and enjoying all, this wonderful island has to offer. So what makes such a sought after destination have 34 suicides occur each year? Last week my husband informed me that around 34 people commit suicide in our town per year. Then he told me that means around 24 people will take their lives in the next six weeks! To say I was shocked is an understatement but what really pushed me (and him) to speak out was, that while we were discussing this in the car driving over the bridge that separates the island from the mainland, someone was (un-be-known to us) taking their life by jumping from the highest part of the bridge.
So, what can we do? Once I read a lovely story which has inspired me in the past to be kinder to strangers and I will tell it here for you. A woman was driving with her husband and he was just grinning at random people they were passing. She asked him what he was doing and he simply replied "saving lives"! Apparently suicide survives said they would have seriously reconsidered their attempt if a stranger had smiled at them that day. Well, I personally haven't met any attempted suicide victims but I like to believe those small gestures can change the world and save people in moments of despair.
So, reach out. Smile, hug, converse or anything that you feel could help. I want to thin that if one of my sons was ever in such despair, someone would just ask them if they are ok.
Read my husbands article here (in Portuguese, but if you want it translated, just let me know in the comments below).
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