Veteran’s Suicide Awareness

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – This week is National Suicide Prevention in America. All over the country events are held to bring awareness and train individuals in spotting warning signs and first aid.

A group who is at high risk in particular are those who have returned from serving our country and first responders. At the Veterans Club in Louisville, free community wide training is being held in hopes to save veteran lives. Jeremy Harrell, founder of the non-profit told, News 40 that this Thursday, from 11:30 A.M. to 1 P.M a “lunch and learn” style of training will happen at the Veteran’s Club in partnership with the Veteran’s Affairs as they have done 2 years prior. Harrell says he hopes to get as many people as possible involved to spread this kind of programming to other communities in the commonwealth.

Harrell mentioned in his interview that he hears often in the veteran community, talk about not wanting to live after loss of mobility and other health issues. To this, he wants to encourage and reassure fellow veterans that they are valued regardless of their struggles. At this event, there will being peer group specialists, social workers, and medical personnel to help attendees learn what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to encourage professional help.

Nationally, 17 veterans die to suicide every day. There are currently two hundred fifty seven thousand veterans in Kentucky. If you want to learn more about the Veteran’s Club, you can check the organization out for yourself on Facebook.