Editor’s note: This story talks about suicide and may be triggering for some viewers/readers.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – One suicide is too many. When it’s your family, it’s very tough to process the anger, grief and regret. KSN speaks with a woman who is processing her loss by helping those struggling.
September is Suicide Prevention Month.
Esther Granados says she feels her brother’s presence in a memory box, even after nine years.
“There’s times that it still feels like it’s literally the day that he died,” said Granados.
That day is imprinted in Granados’ memory.
“It was like 3:30 in the morning, and my sister called me, and it was just devastating. I mean, I remember just being like, ‘This cannot be real,'” said Granados.
Her brother Vincent died by suicide at the age of 22. She says he struggled with his mental health his whole life and with suicidal ideations.
“From the day that he died, we decided as a family like, ‘We’re not going to be quiet about it.’ ‘We’re going to be mental health advocates and do what we can,'” said Granados.
Granados is a therapist.
“At the VA and suicide prevention and just really getting to, you know, honor my brother through my work every single day,” she said.
She knows now that having tough conversations with her clients may save a life.
“Just because I asked about suicide doesn’t mean that I’m going to plant that seed, and it doesn’t mean that you know, I’m going to lead them that way. It’s just actually I’m giving them a safe place to talk about,” said Granados.
Granados says someone once told her that things either define us or refine us. She hopes for the latter.
“I can’t go back and save my brother, right? But I can move forward and say, how do I help other people get the tools to hopefully save their brothers,” said Granados.
If you or someone you know needs help, there are resources available. You can visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or for more mental health resources, click here.
