(Photo courtesy Flickr/Hot Gossip Italia)
By Dan Irvin
I remember listening to the morning sports show on the BBC in November of 2011 when the word came down that Wales national soccer team manager Gary Speed had taken his own life. All of Great Britain was stunned and left to wonder.
Just four months ago Robin Williams chose to end his life. So many around the world were left to remember laughing at his enormous body of work and to miss what he may have still had to offer. We were left to wonder.
When depression takes a life, as it did young Jake Miller’s life late last week, there’s nothing to say to his family and friends and fans of his magnificent and tragically short swimming career. Nothing to say to make it better for them. Just that we will remember them in our thoughts and prayers.
Depression is a real thing. It’s wholly personal and makes the victim blind in many ways. Ways we cannot possibly understand. But we must make an effort to reach those who are desperately depressed and overwhelmed by their perceived isolation. I offer this.
ESPN broadcaster Stuart Scott lost his battle with cancer over the weekend. You can easily find the remarks he made last June when he received the Jim Valvano award to honor his ongoing fight against the disease. Scott borrowed the comments of Valvano so many years ago, and I’m borrowing and adapting Scott’s words to deliver this message.
If you are suffering and feel you can’t suffer any more and if you can hear me, please – do not give up. Don’t ever give up. If you feel you’re ready to quit, talk to a family member. If they can’t help, reach out to a friend. If they can’t help, seek a mental health care professional.
Please, don’t give up. You can find someone out there who understands you and can help you fight on. You can find someone who knows what to say. Please, don’t give up. Never. Ever.
If you know a family member or a friend or a coworker that is so very down and out for whatever reason, help them see that you care. Help them fight on; maybe for just one more day. Something good can happen tomorrow.
Dan Irvin is Secretary of the Board of the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, Vice-President of the Bloomington Public Library Foundation Board, and a member of the Heartland Community College Foundation Board.
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