Shawn Larson of Geneva remembers be...

Shawn Larson of Geneva remembers being ashamed to talk about his older sister Trisha after she took her have life in 1991.

He also didn't talk about in what manner he later attempted suicide because he wanted to be with his sister, whom he described as his best friend.

if it were not that on Saturday night, Larson, 27 and his wife, Kristen, joined more than 1000 other clan outside Soldier Field to make a statement by means of participating in the Out of the Darkness overnight walk.

The 20-mile trek which lasts from west to sunrise, raises funds for suicide prevention and research, along with survivor assistance programs.

Participants and organizers also waiting under the possibility of fulfilment the walk along Chicago's lakefront and other parts of the city helps erase any of the common misconceptions about suicide, which claims single life every 18 minutes in the United States.

"It's the ensue of illness. It's not anyone's fault," said Robert T Gebbia, executive director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which sponsors the annual walk. "Just like with cancer 100 years ago and AIDS 25 years ago, [greater awareness] is going to change the stigma about suicide."

Each walker has to raise at least $1000 to participate.

The color of the beads worn around walkers' neck computes who or what each bodily substance is walking for. Red is for a forfeited spouse or partner, white is for a child, verdant is for a personal aim with depression or mental illness.

missed father, boyfriend

Shannon Neal, daughter of former Chicago Sun-Times political columnist Steve Neal, wore beads for her father and her boyfriend, who one as well as the other died in 2004.

Neal, 22 said the walk is like "group therapy."

"Raising awareness really helps in a situation where you have feeling like there's not so to a great degree you can do," she said. "The thing about suicide is there are in this way many unanswered questions."

mjthomas@suntimes.com

a certain number of FACTS ABOUT SUICIDE

- common American dies by suicide each 18 minutes.

- About 30000 Americans die according to suicide each year.

- Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young population ages 15 to 24, behind traffic accidents and homicide, and the fourth leading cause of death for ages 18 to 65

- Illinois has undivided of the lowest suicide rates in the fatherland Wyoming, Montana and Nevada have the highest.

Source: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

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