Lexington native to participate in Annual 5K to support local suicide prevention and remember Paul Morrissey

(Boston) – More than 2,500 runners, walkers, families and team members will support Samaritans’ mission to prevent suicide at the 16th annual “Run For Someone Else’s Life” 5K Run/Walk and Family Fun Festival on Saturday, September 27th along the Charles River. The importance of a caring, compassionate community is emphasized at the event.

One of the inspiring teams participating in this year’s event that has experienced the life-changing work of Samaritans is Paul’s Team. Team Captain Laura Morrissey created the team in honor of her brother Paul, who loved running, skateboarding, and anything he could do outdoors. Laura is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Health, and realizes, “Suicide is such an issue because of the stigma surrounding it, and it’s swept under the rug. In public health, I’m really invested in what the family unit is and how it can produce wonderful members of society; I want to study how to best support people with mental illnesses and help them through any challenges.”

Her interest in public health was partly sparked by the loss of her brother, she explains: “Before Paul died, he went to so many different medical professionals, and the biggest problem I saw was that everything was disjointed; there was no one person to oversee his care. That responsibility fell on our family, and it’s really hard to do when you aren’t trained. I’m interested not only in the medical side but also in the problem of communication – no one in the country really sets goals, restrictions and guidelines for dealing with health problems.” Laura continues, “Paul was fortunate to get the care he needed, but there are many people who do not get that same care, and that’s not fair. I saw these inequalities for people who can and cannot receive care for something as little as a rash or as big as schizophrenia.”

Laura’s awareness of the scope of suicide as a public health issue was augmented by attending the 5K; she shares, “It was wonderful and sad at the same time how big the event was. It was nice knowing you’re not alone and your family is not alone and that there are other people who know what you’re dealing with, but it is also really sad how many people have lost someone to suicide.” The event also brings Paul’s family together, she explains, “The 5K really marks the year of his death – for us it’s a really nice way to memorialize the time that has passed and how he was. We’re very close and communicative, but it’s hard to talk about things that happened in the past that are sad. We talk about Paul and allude to him, but we never speak about what happened, and I think it’s because we understand the pain we’re all going through and we don’t have to bring it up.

“But because of that,” she continues, “having this event where we don’t have to talk about it, but we’re there for the exact same reason – it gives us those few hours to feel sad but also really hopeful. It’s much easier than saying ‘Let’s rehash it once a year and make everyone really sad;’ it’s active and you can distract yourself and make new friends at the same time. It’s a good way for us to cope.”

The 5K is also an opportunity to discover – or rediscover – a community. Her hometown has been supportive; she describes how, “even when people haven’t realized what happened they are so responsive. They reach out and donated, and shared memories of Paul. You don’t realize the extent of how much people care until something like this happens, and we now see how much support we really have.” And the day of the event itself only emphasizes this: “Though it is sad to see how many people have been affected by suicide,“ Laura explains, “it’s also nice to know other people are out there and it shows how much of an issue this really is. We definitely always recognize other people and it creates this larger network of people who have similar stories to tell.”

To register for the 5K or to donate to Paul’s Team, please visit www.samaritans5K.org