Suicide attempt survivor to share story during Out of the Darkness Walk
It's a walk near and dear to Ciera Johnson's heart. "Everybody sort of just comes here and we are just here for each other for a few hours," said Ciera Johnson of New Springfield.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - It's a walk near and dear to Ciera Johnson's heart.
"Everybody sort of just comes here and we are just here for each other for a few hours," said Ciera Johnson of New Springfield.
The 23-year-old understands better than most the importance of the Out of the Darkness Walk.
Every 13 minutes, a person dies by suicide. Two and a half years ago, Ciera nearly became a statistic after issues in her life kept snowballing.
"I woke up one day bone sober and just decided I was over it, that I didn't want to be here anymore, that I just didn't want to keep going and at the very last second, I called for help and I am so glad that I did," Johnson said.
Ciera was rushed to the hospital and spent nearly a week in critical condition. She started making small changes in her life, underwent counseling for nearly two years and now shares her story to raise awareness.
"I am a lot better at handling stress. There is always stress. There is always going to be issues and doubts and bad days and things, but I am a lot better now at taking a deep breath, like you know what, it is ok," Johnson said. "It is going to be fine and doing whatever I had to do, whatever I learned in counseling to get myself through a bad day."
Ciera will be sharing more of her story at Out of the Darkness Walk 2017, which will be held at the Wick Recreation Area on Saturday, September 30 at 11 o'clock in the morning. Registration begins at 10:00 am.
