Tattoo artist Francisco “Slick” Montanez skillfully worksink into the forearm of a client as she sits quietly watching.
The needle digs in to her thin, sensitive skin, but stillshe silently watches, not flinching.
The pain of a tattoo doesn’t match the pain of losing herson to suicide.
Knowing what the tattoo, a teal and purple colored ribbonmarked with a semicolon, symbolizes, the woman is unable to speak about it.
Tears well in her eyes as Shannon Hawley, founder of Hope4_2morrow, a suicide prevention organization, hugs her.
“The thing people fail to remember is that they aren’t alone,”Hawley said. “They have family – mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, kids – thatlove them and are left behind to mourn their loss.”
On Saturday, dozens of people lined up outside Montanez’sshop, Project Ink’d Tattoo and Piercing, 715 25th St., Ste. B, to get tattooedin honor of suicide prevention.
The event featured a single color semicolon tattoo for $20.
“This is something I wanted to do to show everybody and sendthe message that they are not alone,” Montanez said. “We’re going until we runout of supplies.”
The semicolon has become the symbol of suicide awareness after the inception of Project Semicolon in 2013, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting suicide prevention and awareness.
The organization chose the semicolon because “a semicolon is used when an author could’ve chosen to end their sentence but chose not to,” according to the website, www.projectsemicolon.com.
The reasoning behind peoples’ decision to get tattooedSaturday varied.
Some were getting the tattoo to remember a friend or family member who was lost to suicide while others got the tattoos as a reminder of dark times they overcame.
“Me and my husband have a history of people we’ve lost tosuicide,” Greeley resident Stephanie Harmon said. “And we’ve struggledourselves with thoughts and depression.
“It’s something I wanted to do with him. It’s very specialand we’re glad we can support this cause.”
Harmon got a small semicolon tattoo behind her left ear.
There’s no doubt suicide statistics are alarming.
In 2017, 47,173 Americans died by suicide, according to theAmerican Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
In Colorado, suicide is the seventh leading cause of death, with one person dying by suicide every seven hours. These statistics rate the state as the eleventh highest for suicide deaths in the U.S.
The Centers for Disease Control reported 49 deaths in WeldCounty were attributed to suicide in 2017.
“Me, my wife and daughter are all suicide attemptsurvivors,” Hawley said. “By the grace of God, we are still alive.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidalthoughts, help is available.
The Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 has counselors available 24 hours per day, seven days per week for anyone needing to talk.
For more information on Hope4_2morrow and upcoming events, go to www.facebook.com/HOPE42MORRW.
