HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — Grief has become an engine for Holland resident Rebecca Harris.
After her good friend, Holland resident Lindsay Chandler, died by suicide in November, Harris got to work, carrying out a plan she and Chandler has often discussed: Providing support for suicide prevention. Now, Harris wants everyone to remember what she wishes Lindsay Chandler knew.
“You have value. And you’re important,” Harris said in a phone interview with WHTC-AM/FM and the new 99.7 FM. “And you’re loved by so many more people than you actually know.”
Harris organized a showing of a documentary, “Suicide: The Ripple Effect,” at the Holland 8 Theater in Holland on Aprili 26, as well as a suicide-prevention support group, Lakeshore HOPE.
Harris said one of the biggest misconceptions about suicide is that talking about it will make matters worse. The opposite is true, she said.
“Talk to somebody. Talk to somebody that you trust. Call somebody. Call the confidential hotlines. Text the confidential hotlines,” she said. “You are not alone.”
Already, more than 55 tickets have been sold for the show, with at least 65 seats remaining. Harris said if the show sells out, there may be a larger theater available. She’s organized a panel discussion for before and after the film. Kevin Hines made the documentary after he survived a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, he works as an anti-suicide advocate.
Harris’ effort has the full support of Lindsay Chandler’s family. Her dad, Greg Chandler — familiar to many WHTC listeners as a former newsman at the station, now the voice of most sports broadcasts, said he helped Harris with suggestions on how to publicize her education and prevention efforts. He plans on seeing the film, too, with one hope.
“If there’s one person that we can save, that we can turn away, who might be thinking about taking their own life, through what we’re doing by bringing this movie in,” he said. “If we can save one life, it will be so worth it.”
“Suicide: The Ripple Effect” will be screened at 7:30 p.m. April 26 at the Holland 8 Theater in Holland, with $10 tickets available online at https://gathr.us/s/22881.
Anyone who needs immediate help and support can call (800) 273-8255.
