LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Ester Ybarra-Bryant's son was barely a teenager.
"He was 13 when he killed himself," Ester recalls. "He chose to go into the garage, turn on the car and close the windows. He died by carbon monoxide suicide."
April Kubachka's son was just 19.
"It was the saddest day of my life," says April. "He used my husband's gun, and shot himself in a hotel room. I got a call from the coroner who said 'I'm sorry, your son was found dead today.'"
And Mary Halligan found her husband at home.
"There he was in a pile of blood on the floor," Mary remembers. "He'd laid down and put the gun in his mouth. It's the most horrific thing you can ever imagine."
These ladies are just three of the thousands of survivors of suicide. At the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services Center here in Los Angeles, the country's oldest suicide prevention center, President and CEO Kita Curry says in this difficult economic climate, sadly, there's been a clear uptick in suicide.
"Our calls to the hotline have doubled since the economy collapsed," Curry says. "In our hotline, we've found we're receiving many more calls where people do bring up stresses related to work, finances, and mortgages."
And the survivors' personal tales bear this out.
Mary Halligan's husband Lanny had lost his job. "He got worse and worse, and he said, 'You know, if I was still working, I could handle this a lot better,'" Mary says. "He said 'It's like being in a big, black abyss and not seeing any way out.'"
April Kubachka's son Kyle couldn't face the financial road he saw ahead. "On his salary, without going to school, he realized he wasn't going to make it, so he felt hopeless, and helpless," April says.
Today the Didi Hirsch call center is even receiving calls from banks and mortgage companies, requesting prevention training. "For the first time in their employees' history," Curry explains, "People are saying 'I may as well kill myself.' They don't know how to answer that."
But now many of the survivors of suicide are reaching out. They're choosing to work with the Did Hirsch Center, to counsel others who are surviving or contemplating suicide.
"At Didi Hirsch, the survivor group -- those are the ones that made me understand and realize that I had a purpose in life: to honor my loved ones and to continue to help others," Ester says.
And April agrees. "It's never too late to help somebody else."
Didi Hirsch President and CEO Curry has some simple, direct advice for anyone in mental or emotional pain. "Get help. And the sooner the better."
The Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services suicide prevention hotline is available 24 hours a day. It's free, and it's anonymous. The number is 1-877-727-4747.
For more information about the center, visit their website: http://www.didihirsch.org/
"He was 13 when he killed himself," Ester recalls. "He chose to go into the garage, turn on the car and close the windows. He died by carbon monoxide suicide."
April Kubachka's son was just 19.
"It was the saddest day of my life," says April. "He used my husband's gun, and shot himself in a hotel room. I got a call from the coroner who said 'I'm sorry, your son was found dead today.'"
And Mary Halligan found her husband at home.
"There he was in a pile of blood on the floor," Mary remembers. "He'd laid down and put the gun in his mouth. It's the most horrific thing you can ever imagine."
These ladies are just three of the thousands of survivors of suicide. At the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services Center here in Los Angeles, the country's oldest suicide prevention center, President and CEO Kita Curry says in this difficult economic climate, sadly, there's been a clear uptick in suicide.
"Our calls to the hotline have doubled since the economy collapsed," Curry says. "In our hotline, we've found we're receiving many more calls where people do bring up stresses related to work, finances, and mortgages."
And the survivors' personal tales bear this out.
Mary Halligan's husband Lanny had lost his job. "He got worse and worse, and he said, 'You know, if I was still working, I could handle this a lot better,'" Mary says. "He said 'It's like being in a big, black abyss and not seeing any way out.'"
April Kubachka's son Kyle couldn't face the financial road he saw ahead. "On his salary, without going to school, he realized he wasn't going to make it, so he felt hopeless, and helpless," April says.
Today the Didi Hirsch call center is even receiving calls from banks and mortgage companies, requesting prevention training. "For the first time in their employees' history," Curry explains, "People are saying 'I may as well kill myself.' They don't know how to answer that."
But now many of the survivors of suicide are reaching out. They're choosing to work with the Did Hirsch Center, to counsel others who are surviving or contemplating suicide.
"At Didi Hirsch, the survivor group -- those are the ones that made me understand and realize that I had a purpose in life: to honor my loved ones and to continue to help others," Ester says.
And April agrees. "It's never too late to help somebody else."
Didi Hirsch President and CEO Curry has some simple, direct advice for anyone in mental or emotional pain. "Get help. And the sooner the better."
The Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services suicide prevention hotline is available 24 hours a day. It's free, and it's anonymous. The number is 1-877-727-4747.
For more information about the center, visit their website: http://www.didihirsch.org/
