In Midst of Suicide Epidemic Heroes Emerge

The numbers are startling.

In 2021, 1.7 million attempted suicide; 48,183 were successful. And every single day in America, 132 people take their own lives.

As one of the leading causes of death in the United States, suicide is more than a public health issue — its an epidemic that reaches far beyond our borders. It’s worldwide.

In 2020, 6,146 veterans took their own lives, and it’s estimated that between 18-20 veterans commit suicide every singe day.

That’s a veteran committing suicide every 90 minutes in America.

Suicide is not only one of the leading causes of death in the United States — it’s the leading cause of death among young people and children in America. And while suicide rates have steadily increased over the last two decades amongst the general population, the pandemic undoubtedly accelerated matters — making the issue go from bad to worse. Especially for young people.

During the pandemic, when young people and children were forced to stay home; when school officials canceled in-person learning and entire communities were shut down — it was reported that 5,568 teenagers died by suicide. And the devastation that those deaths have caused will have long term effects in their communities that will last generations.

The untimely death of any human being is gut wrenching — but the death of a child and the pain that follows is oftentimes unbearable.

In Chicago — a city known for political corruption, soaring crime and now, ground zero of the nationwide migrant crisis, Chicago police officers are dealing with unprecedented challenges while on the job, resulting in a new mental health crisis that’s spreading among first responders.

Since the pandemic, Chicago police officers in particular have had to figure out how to control crime in communities hostile to their presence while at the same time dealing with a lack in political support from various levels that’s resulted in massive police shortages.

In 2023, 225,000 high priority 911 calls went unanswered in the city of Chicago. Why? There were not enough police officers on the streets to respond to the calls.

It’s also estimated that there are over 1,000 police officer vacancies within the department — creating a nightmare scenario for the officers and the community — especially residents and visitors.

But this too, comes at a price, and Chicago police officers are taking their own lives at a rate three times higher than in previous years.

In 2022, seven Chicago police officers died by suicide — that’s more than 2020 and 2021 combined, according to the Illinois Answers Project.

Chicago radio host John Anthony, a former Kendall County Sheriff's Deputy and Illinois State Representative, is sadly no stranger to this epidemic. Over the years, Anthony has lost close friends — law enforcement officers — to suicide.

And in 2021, his only son, John Wesley Christian Anthony, tragically and unexpectedly took his own life at 18 years old.

Now, Anthony dedicates his time and leverages his platform on the radio to talk about suicide and suicide prevention. And as a result, countless lives have been saved.

During one recent show, Anthony invited Chase Heidner to talk about an organization near and dear to her heart — and her family’s — the suicide prevention organization Project H.O.P.E. House located in Barrington, Illinois, which stands for Helping Open People’s Eyes and Hang On — Pain Ends.

H.O.P.E. House was created as a result of a series of teen suicides that has plagued the Barrington-area community, where the Heidner family resides just outside of Chicago, over the last few decades. H.O.P.E. assists teenagers, veterans and first responders.

But for Chase Heidner, it all started at 7 years old when her outgoing and beautiful 18-year old family babysitter took her own life. The tragic event led Chase to pursue a career years later in psychology at DePaul University in Chicago.

But sadly, the death of the Heidner’s babysitter, Nicole, was just the beginning; and since then, the Heidner family and the Barrington High School community has had to say goodbye to too many friends and classmates. From 2007 to 2010, five Barrington High School students took their own lives.

One is hard enough to lose, let alone five or six in a single, small community.

H.O.P.E. founder Ray Paigentini served as a Barrington High School guidance counselor for 32 years, and he runs the organization. And Chase’s father, Rick Heidner, founder of Heidner Properties who oversees an extensive real estate portfolio that spans nationwide and includes the Field of Dreams baseball field made famous by the 1989 movie Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner, owns the home that headquarters H.O.P.E. House.

Heidner also covers any expense related to the upkeep and maintenance of the home, allowing the organization to direct every penny toward saving lives.

As Thomas Keneally, the Australian novelist and playwright said, “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.”