Semicolon Campaign Founder
Mental health campaigner who created Project Semicolon dies at 31 March 30, 2017 Friends and Colleagues, It saddens us to share that Amy Bleuel, the founder of Project Semicolon passed away last week. Although an official cause of death has not be determined, it is being widely reported on social media that Amy died by suicide. In 2013 Amy Bleuel founded Project Semicolon, after her father died by suicide, in order to offer support and prevention to those dealing with suicide loss, and mental illness. The vision of Project Semicolon is to help people see value in their story and that suicide is no longer an option to be considered. Regardless of what we hear in any story on social media and elsewhere we want to remember two key things in this time: Each individual has a story, and that story is important, no matter what anyone else says. TheCitizensWhoCare.org strives to make Suicide Prevention Accessible to Everyone, so we want to remind everyone It Is really OK To Ask R U OK? If you or someone you know is considering suicide, or in crisis: Text: ‘SOS’ to 741741 Mental health
campaigner who created Project Semicolon dies at 31 Project Semicolon: People are drawing semi-colons on their wrists as a message of hope Amy Bleuel, 31, from Wisconsin, founded Project Semicolon in 2013 with one goal in mind – to help people struggling with mental illness, suicide and addiction. She encouraged people to draw or tattoo semicolons on themselves as a message of hope – a sign that their story isn’t finished – and to fight the stigma of mental health. Jeff Strommen, the chairman of the Brown County Coalition for Suicide Prevention who had previously worked with Amy, told Fox 11: ‘Her loss is felt tremendously both by myself and our community here.’ The most recent post on her Facebook fan page was written on March 20 and reads: ‘Depression takes root when the picture of the past is more powerful than the picture of the future.’ MORE: Woman describes absolutely devastating reason behind her semicolon tattoo Amy struggled with mental illness for more than 20 years and experienced many stigmas associated with it. After overcoming some of her struggles, she began sharing stories and giving hope to others struggling with mental illness. On the Project Semicolon website, Amy, who lost her own father to suicide in 2003, wrote: ‘Despite the wounds of a dark past I was able to rise from the ashes, proving that the best is yet to come. Text: Choose to keep going as better things are yet to come... New tattoo makes 4 now #tattoo #small #bigmeaning #wrist #girlswithtattoos #addicted #semicolon #love #newink #wristtattoo #projectsemicolon When my life was filled with the pain of rejection, bullying, suicide, self-injury, addiction, abuse and even rape, I kept on fighting. ‘I didn’t have a lot of people in my corner, but the ones I did have kept me going. In my 20 years of personally struggling with mental health I experienced many stigmas associated with it. ‘Through the pain came inspiration and a deeper love for others. Please remember there is hope for a better tomorrow.’ For more information about suicide prevention, click here. Source: metro.co.uk/2017/03/31/mental-health-campaigner-who-created-project-semicolon-dies-at-31-6544916/
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