By Ashton Jones
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – One Bowling Green couple is assisting in suicide prevention with a suicide awareness ride.
Dale Griffin and Cathy organized the first annual Suicide Prevention Ride that gathered over 50 bikers to participate. The path started at Comfort Suites and wrapped around Bowling Green.
Each entry fee of $20 goes to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to bring down those numbers. Every participant had been affected by suicide in some way.
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“I lost a spouse to suicide years ago. That’s why I’m here today,” says one biker.
Organizers Dale and Cathy normally do the suicide prevention walk, but this year’s circumstances called for something different.
“To me, this shows that people are well aware of it and more than happy to come together for the cause,” explains Dale.
His fiancé, Cathy, lost her own son to suicide, something she struggles to speak on.
“Suicide is a topic people don’t want to talk about. Bad thoughts or mental illness… People aren’t alone out there like they thought they are.”
In 2018, 800 Kentuckians died by suicide according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kentucky falls in the midrange of suicide deaths nationwide.
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