Las Vegas NowSuicide Ranks High in Nevada

Suicide Ranks High in Nevada

Nevada is ranked third in the nation when it comes to suicide.  More people in Nevada die from suicide than from murder or in car accidents.

In 2003, more than 430 people died from suicide and that's almost twice the national average. Now, there is an office in Las Vegas dedicated to preventing suicide in Nevada.

One of the women who pushed Nevada legislators to open the suicide prevention office is Linda Flatt.  The reason she's devoted her time and energy to suicide prevention is because of someone she lost more than a decade ago.

Every day Linda Flatt goes to work thinking of her son Paul.  His picture is sewn onto a quilt that hangs on a wall in Linda's office.  It's a constant reminder of what happened to him 13 years ago.

"I had a warning sign a major warning sign.  Paul threatened suicide about six months before he died and I took that seriously but when he told me that he was kidding. I let it go," Flatt recalls.

Paul's death was hard for Linda to deal with at first because he'd grown up in a good home with two parents, a sister -- a family who loved him.

Flatt says, "this doesn't happen just on TV to bad families.  It happens in ordinary families like mine."

It's why after her son's death Linda started working with others who'd lost loved ones to suicide, as well.  She even pushed Nevada legislators to open up a suicide prevention office  in Las Vegas.

She says, "a coordinator was hired in Carson City in December and I came on board in February of this year."

It's her way of turning her son's tragedy into an opportunity to make a difference. "I would like to have a second chance.  It would have been good to have a second chance," Flatt says.

If not for Paul, then for others who could end up like him. This is Linda's second chance at helping someone choose life over death.

When Linda first started working to educate the community about suicide prevention back in 1996, Nevada was actually ranked first in the nation when it came to suicides.

She says the reason Nevada is now third is because the rate of youth suicides has decreased.  While that's a start, she says Nevada has a long way to go.