Reporter Annette Lawless shares this story, coming up on KAKE News at 10 on Tuesday night.
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It was a picture-perfect world: loving husband and beautiful wife.
“She was a Texas blonde with blue eyes and she was a pilot a scuba diver,” said Jim Yoder. “Loved life. Very vivacious. Everyone loved her.”
Yet, Jim’s world vastly changed in April 2012. That’s when he found his wife, Tammy, in their home. She died by suicide.
“She struggled with anxiety. Anxiety disorder and psychosis,” he said.
Like other survivors of suicide, Jim said he had questions and needed help. Soon enough, he found a local support group Good Grief of Kansas.
It’s there where he meets others just like him: families trying to find a way to cope after suicide.
“I often say it’s the hardest part of the week, but it’s also the best hour of the week,” he said. “I usually cry going home. A lot of pain gets shared there. But it is the one place where we can go where everyone in the room understands.”
Over time, Jim found himself returning to the group on a regular basis. He was asked to lead the group discussions and developed many friendships along the way.
“You can see into their eyes and they see into yours and you understand what they’re feeling at that point in time,” said Rick Burr, a friend of Jim’s. Rick lost a son to suicide in May 2012. His son, Mike, was 20 years old.
It’s through their loss that they’ve found their new passion: pushing for change. The two have helped lead community events, hoping to put an end to suicide.
Rick said most suicides are connected to mental illness, and if mental illnesses are treatable, then suicide should be preventable. The two hope they can prevent more lives taken away too early. Research from the CDC shows that nearly 40,000 Americans die by suicide each year.
“We need to focus our efforts on finding ways to end these tragedies,” Jim said. “We know we can’t stop them all, but every life that can be saved is worth our efforts.”