Turning Suicide Statistics Around

Great article from Phil Ferolito / Yakima Herald-Republic.



HARRAH — At best, the memory is a vague dream, said 15-year-old Lilia Vera.

She was bleeding from her wrist when she put a noose around her neck at her home in Harrah. Everything was a blur. She remembers waking up in her brother’s arms as he said: “No, no.”

She was rushed to a hospital and later taken to a mental health facility in Yakima, where she stayed for a few days before returning home.

Overcome by depression and feelings of hopelessness, Vera nearly became another statistic in a growing problem in Yakima County and on the Yakama Reservation in particular: suicide.

Read the rest HERE...