Margaret Hajdinjak scans the obituaries out of habit.
And almost every time she does, she spots another victim of suicide, staring back at her from the page.
The obituary never lists suicide as the cause of death, but you can always tell, she said on Monday, launching the second annual Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk, an event she helped forge a year ago in memory of her son Steven, who killed himself at the age of 26, on Nov. 17, 2005.
“When he took his life I thought my world had ended at that time,” said Hajdinjak, who managed to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and work toward ending the stigma surrounding depression, the mental health condition that ultimately led her son down a path of no return.
It’s a disease that knows no boundaries, she said, noting it still continues to impact Steven’s tight-knit group of friends.
“Last year, on the day of our walk, one of his friends ended their life. And then in October another friend ended their life,” Margaret said. “So there have been three boys out of that group of friends that have lost their lives to suicide.”
The same year Steven died, 24 Nishnawbe Aski Nation members took their own lives, one of the highest Aboriginal suicide rates in Canada.
The walk, slated for Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Confederation College, is a way to promote awareness of suicide, which is the leading killer of young adults in Canada between the ages of 15 and 24.
More than a million people die at their own hands around the world each year, and while Thunder Bay has certainly seen more than its fair share of suicides, the city isn’t alone, Margaret said.
“I think it’s a problem everywhere,” she said. “I was recently over in Ireland for some work that we do and there were three suicides the week I was there. It’s a social thing. It’s not just here. It’s everywhere. This is to raise the awareness,” she said.
“I think awareness and being able to talk about it, especially being able to talk about depression (is key). If you’re depressed, who do you go to talk to?
There’s such a stigma around depression, and that’s what my son died from. I think if you raise that awareness then suicide will hopefully decrease.”
Out of the Darkness Memorial Walk co-chairwoman Jessica Cordes called it an information fair.
“It’s about celebrating the lives of all the people we lost, but it’s also about prevention,” Cordes said.
The walk, which drew 350 people with little pre-event fanfare in 2011, will feature a memorial wall where friends and family can post pictures of those they lost, said Margaret, who initially started the dragon-boat team, One in a Million, to honour her son.
“Then I thought the community has lost so many people to suicide that I would do something that was different and involve the community,” she said.
“It lets you know you’re not alone and (you can) talk about it.”
Progress is being made, she added.
“I think it is getting a lot better. There are a lot more supports in the community,” pointing to Scott Chisholm’s Collateral Damage project as just one effort that is making a difference. “I think there are more people talking about it.”
Pre-registration for the 3.5-kilometre walk begins at 5 p.m. at Confederation College’s Ryan Hall.
Opening ceremonies will begin at 6 p.m.
