Supporters carried signs in memory of loved ones for the Nov. 6 gathering at Beach Park for the Out of the Darkness’ Walk to Prevent Suicide where their aspirations were met through more ways than one.?
Ellen Eggert Hallgren organized the second walk in Bakersfield that is also put on all over the nation.
“I run a group for people who have lost loved ones to suicide. The group has been meeting for three years and a couple years ago we decided that we wanted to do something,” Hallgren said. “We couldn’t bring our loved ones back, but we wanted to save others from going through what we went through so we got involved with [American Foundation for Suicide Prevention] and we started doing the walks.”
Although there was no entry fee, donations and profits from the raffles went to local prevention programs and national research funds.?
Hallgren said that raising money is a good part of the walk, but the education of prevention is what she believes it is all about.
“That’s important, but the most important thing is?to raise awareness that suicide can be prevented and we want to erase the stigma associated with suicide because when people hear the word they run. We want to talk about it and educate the people about it.?
“Where we are, it’s a busy intersection and people see us and think, ‘Oh, you know, people are talking about it,’ and not be afraid to talk about it too,” she said.
Family members and friends were able to remember their loved ones and support each other with the common goal of prevention. There were many booths set up for support groups and goals for suicide prevention. One such booth was dedicated to Suzy’s Law.
The booth was ran by Suzy’s mother and father, Mike Gonzales, who were advocating for the passing of H.R. 853, or Suzy’s Law, after their daughter committed suicide in 2003 with the help of a pro-suicide Web site. H.R. 853 is a suicide prevention act, which the Gonzales’ promote by traveling to all of the events around California that are put on by Out of the Darkness.?
They traveled 650 miles to Bakersfield so that they could share their daughter’s story.
“What the bill does is target the predators of these sites, those certain individuals who target other people like my daughter who was severely depressed, and was suicidal. But then he befriended her, gained her confidence and validated all her depressed feelings about loneliness and not worth living. He encouraged her to solely focus on killing herself. He showed her information and kept her focused on the concept of killing herself, up to the point that she did take her life.?
“He was online with her up to the very moment when she left her apartment to go to the hotel to take her own life. He proofread her suicide note and made sure that no one would have the chance of interrupting her. He showed her how to take her own life; she ingested cyanide, you tell me how you get cyanide. He had it shipped to her. He showed her how to mix it and do all stuff so she could take it,” said Gonzales.
Though Suzy’s online predator also taught her how to wipe down the computer of all evidence so that it couldn’t be traced back to him, Gonzales did some research into his daughter’s hidden life and found the site where they were celebrating Suzy’s death as their 14th success story. Gonzales periodically checks in on the site and said that there have now been over 30. Pro-suicide Web sites would archive their information but many of them are now switching to private e-mails. Gonzales said that the man who targeted his daughter is still assisting people with their suicides.?
“After our daughter died and we spent two years having legal entities research, the Florida police, Tallahassee police, US Attorney General’s office and several private law offices in Florida, that’s where my daughter was when she died, we had them research it and found out that assisting suicide through the internet, there isn’t any laws against that,” Gonzales said.
“So people are getting away with it. After those two years of trying to figure it out, all of the legal people said, ‘Sorry, there’s nothing we can do, there are no laws.’ ”
Gonzales wasn’t going to let “sorry” be the only answer to these crimes. He went to Congressman Wally Herger and helped establish a bill that made it a federal crime to promote or encourage suicide over the Internet.? According to the Suzy’s Law Web site, “H.R. 853 is both narrow and specific. It is limited in its scope and its extent. It doesn’t trample on the First Amendment, and it doesn’t supersede state laws.”
Though the bill will not shut down pro-suicide sites, it will target the predators of the sites. ?
The Gonzales’ main goal is to get 50 Congressional co-sponsors in order to be approved.
One way of accomplishing that goal was having people write to their local representatives, encouraging them to co-sponsor H.R. 853 by filling out a card at the event or going to www.suzyslaw.com where supporters could find information to send a letter.?