POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 53 As originally published In the News... Casey Project catalyst for suicide prevention Sometimes Mary Bent can get through the day without crying about her dead son. Other days are different. “We have what we call ‘Casey moments’. It will be an ordinary day and something will come on the radio or someone will say something and you'll start to bawl your eyes out,” said Bent. She and her husband, Greg, who works for Irving Oil, lost their only child on Nov. 17, 2001. A Master Corporal in the Army Reserves and a small arms expert at Camp Aldershot, Casey Bent was 24 and had a wife and two small children when he died. “It was totally unexpected. We had talked to him right up to 12 o’clock that night and had no idea what was on his mind. At 3:30 in the morning he was dead,” said Mary, who lives in north Kentville. Adopted at age 7, Casey grew into an even-tempered and mild-mannered adult. He gave none of the warning signs typical to those contemplating suicide. “When it happened, it was so unbelievable. We’ve probably all thought about how we’ll feel when our parents die, or our husband dies before us. But you don’t sit around thinking about how you’ll feel if your son or daughter dies,” especially under such circumstances. After losing her son, said Mary, “I became a different person. I used to be a person who sat at home making cookies, washing the floors. But it didn’t have the same pleasure. It’s like, who cares? What difference did it make? I came to wonder, what’s my role now? I’m not a mother anymore? I had to rethink that. I had to do something.” The idea came to her to launch The Casey Project in memory of her son as a means to promote suicide prevention. “We wanted to do something that would help somebody else. If it would help one person then it’s easier to understand our son’s death. If no good came of it, it would really be a tragedy.” She contacted an acquaintance, Kentville police constable Angie Gibson, who jumped at the chance. “I was excited to work with such a project because word about suicide prevention is so important to get out there,” said Gibson, who recalls that the first fatality she attended as a new police officer was a suicide. Because police are on the frontlines when suicides occur, it makes sense for them to be involved in prevention programs, which focus on things such as recognized warning signs. Those signs can include repeated expressions of hoplessness and desperation, behaviour that is out of character, and signs of depression, including sleeplessness, social withdrawal and loss of interest in usual activities. “We have to go to the families and report what happened. I felt we needed to get involved with this project as a means to do something else.” Bent said the project became more focused when an unexpected e-mail arrived from a suicide awareness group. “The e-mail said ‘what’s your community doing about it’? I thought, I don’t know about my community, but I’ll be walking. I’ll start from that and if anyone wants to join me they can.” Soon, other groups and individuals were onboard, including Jennifer Smart, who is with the local branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association. “The key for us is that we want to get the message out that suicide can be prevented.” Smart said in addition to the CMHA, town police departments, the RCMP, schools, local churches, groups like Mothers United in Memory (MUM), the Red Door, the Emergency Teen Shelter and are others are working together as an ad hoc committee to promote World Suicide Prevention Day, Saturday, Sept. 10. In conjunction, The Casey Project will hold its first “Walk About Suicide” as part of a worldwide event on the same day. The walk begins at 11 a.m. at the Kentville Recreation Centre. For more information, contact Angie Gibson at 679-5962; or visit the CMHA website: www3.nw.sympatico.ca/employmentoutreach. By Patty Mintz - The Advertiser, September 6, 2005
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