Utah State University held a panel Monday featuring USU Athletics and experts from Intermountain Health to discuss suicide awareness. The event was organized with The Defensive Line, an organization created by New York Jets defensive lineman Solomon Thomas who lost his sister to suicide in 2018.
“It’s not fun,” said Utah State University Head Coach Blake Anderson, who was part of the panel.
He said conversations about suicide are necessary, even though we tend to avoid talking about it. "We have to find a way to be comfortable having, as painful as it is to talk about losing a child to suicide, as painful as it is to share those stories and be vulnerable. It’s necessary."
Thomas’ parents, Chris and Martha were also a part of the panel and suicide prevention workshop. Chris Thomas said the trip from Texas to Utah was worth the time.
“We always feel that if we just save one life by having the conversation, by raising awareness, by sharing the tools, the resources that are available, we feel it's definitely worth it,” he said.
Martha Thomas said deaths from suicide are more complicated, making them more difficult to process.
“Suicide of course adds a complexity to your grief, but we’ve found it very helpful to talk about it,” she said.
She said by having conversations with each other about suicide, we can prevent it. “We didn’t know everything and we still don’t know everything but by being silent, it's not gonna help. That doesn’t work.”
Anderson says his personal experiences with suicide and having access to suicide prevention resources have changed the way he coaches, and he’s proud of his athletes' willingness to ask for help when they need it.
