ROCK SPRINGS – A nonprofit organization will host a 5k event May 25 to help raise awareness of suicide and its impact in both the state and Sweetwater County, as well as the resources available to help residents struggling with mental health and thoughts related to ending their lives.

Danielle Rushing spoke to the Rock Springs City Council Tuesday night about the event and the To Write Love On Her Arms organization, which seeks to help people struggling with depression, self harm, addiction and suicide. 

Rushing and her family have been personally affected by suicide. Rushing’s younger brother, Joshua David Thompson, died by suicide Aug. 13, 2013 when he was 23 years old. Her cousin William Redmond Thompson also died by suicide Nov. 21, 2021 when he was 16. 

“I’m obviously not the only one in this room affected by suicide and suicide loss,” Rushing said. “I’m not the only one affected by the deaths of Josh and William … If I’ve learned one thing from living through these losses, it’s that I can affect change by doing something.”

For Rushing, that something is hosting the 5k on May 25. Signups for the event start at 11 a.m. at the Western Wyoming Community College Pendulum, with the 5k itself starting at 11:45 a.m. The event is a fundraiser for mental health and is paired with other events, with Rushing aiming to raise $1,000. She said the main race takes place in Florida that day, with satellite events occurring worldwide. This isn’t the first 5k Rushing has hosted for the organization, with previous events taking place from 2017-2019 and were stopped as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suicide is also very common in Sweetwater County and Wyoming. According to statistics shared by Rushing, an estimated 72 county residents died by suicide from 2018-2022. During those years, the most common means of suicide in Wyoming was through firearm use, which occurred in 69.8% of suicides, followed by suffocation at 18%, poisoning and overdose at 9%. Additionally, 17.52% of 10th grade students in Sweetwater County and 17.43% of sixth and eighth grade students seriously contemplated suicide during the prior 12 months.

“The most alarming statistic is this: as of Dec. 5th 2023, the rate of suicide in Wyoming is at the highest in the country, at 33 deaths per 100,000 people,” Rushing said.