A walk across 400 miles isn't something most folks want to do.
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PLATTE COUNTY--Few of us will ever know the satisfaction that Terresa Humphries-Wadsworth and Kelly Eckerdt experienced after walking 400 miles across Wyoming to bring awareness to something they believe in. But far too many of us know why their journey was so important. We know because suicide has no boundaries or limitations. It bypasses race or religion, age or nationality, and it has touched us all in some way throughout our lives—taken a family member or friend, a co-worker or even a public figure. It is a thief that slips in to the darkest of our days, stealing lives from those whose vision has narrowed so much that faith, hope and even love can no longer be seen or felt.
Friends as well as co-workers, Terresa, from Cody, and Kelly, of Powell, know all about suicide prevention. Teresa is actually Dr. Terresa , the past Director of Statewide Suicide Prevention for the Prevention Management Organization of Wyoming, funded through the Wyoming Health Department. With a doctorate degree in Counseling Psychology from Texas A& M University, she has practiced in Wyoming since 2002 and has more than 25 years of experience overall specializing in rural community mental health and substance abuse treatment. Much of her work has been as a clinician and community change advocate and she has led suicide prevention efforts at the community, regional, state and national levels. Her accomplishments are many, including developing an innovative suicide treatment approach for rural communities, building a statewide web of community prevention interventions linked, but independent, and developing innovative projects that combine emerging research with frontline services. Her most recent projects include the development of WySER (Wyoming Suicide Epidemiology Research), creating guidelines for mixing suicide screening with substance abuse assessment, and growing the statewide infrastructure to support response to the legislative mandate to provide suicide prevention education to teachers and administrators (Jason Flatt Act). Her work has attracted the attention of the Iowa Governor’s Council, the American Association of Suicidology, the Suicide Prevention Research Center and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Kelly was also employed through the Prevention Management Organization of Wyoming as a Suicide Prevention Support Specialist. It is a job title that couldn’t have been more appropriately assigned. Originally planning to also walk the distance step for step next to her best friend, Kelly had to change her role in the project as a problem with her foot ended up requiring surgery this past spring. But physical limitations or not, Kelly was not about to sit on the sidelines and she became Teressa’s support person in the truest sense of the word. In addition to providing emotional support, Kelly and her husband Roy, took care of the peripherals—additional transportation, accommodations, first aid, food and supplies and a long list of others—all critical to the success of the journey. And although it wasn’t the role Kelly had intended to fill, she realized it was where she needed to be and willingly took Plan B in stride. She quickly pointed out, “We may have the same end goal, but my journey just looked different than Terresa’s.”
Kelly’s situation was also a graphic demonstration of the walk’s message—that when one person has a challenge, they need the support and help of another. It is the link sometimes missing in someone’s life that can lead to suicide. And it is that empty, lonely, hopeless feeling that often drives that final and very permanent action—the feeling Terresa and Kelly want to address.
Their stop in Wheatland on September 12th was the last gathering point before the final three-day push that would bring them to the end of the walk at the Veteran’s Home in Cheyenne on the 15th.
But Wheatland was also likely on of the most memorable as residents from Goshen and Platte Counties joined forces to promote and recognize the efforts of these two women and their cause. With suicide being an epidemic problem for thousands of soldiers returning from service around the world, the Walk Across Wyoming drew the attention of State VFW Commander Bill Cain and his wife Pam, who happens to be the current state VFW Auxiliary President. After adopting their theme “Serving Together” for their time in office, the Cains wanted to support the Walk Across Wyoming in any way possible, especially to draw attention to the growing suicide problem in the military. “We are losing young men and women needlessly—they survive combat conditions, only to come home to fight the internal battles of acclimating to civilian life, often exacerbated by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.