We were awakened this morning to news of yet another suicide here in town. A young man, common-law to one of Leah's cousins, shot himself. I don't have much to add apart from what I wrote at Chris' death a very short while ago.
Except for this. I sat down this morning and without taxing my memory too much I came up with fifteen people from Arctic Bay that had killed themselves in the nine years since I've been here. There are others but these were the ones that sprang immediately to mind.
Over those years Arctic Bay's population has probably averaged 650 people. To put these deaths into some sort of perspective, that rate alone would translate to some 1,700 suicides every year in Winnipeg, 12,500 in Toronto, 2,700 suicides in Ottawa, 5,200 in Vancouver and well you get the picture. Those would be suicides annually.
Do you think if there was that kind of death toll down south that there might be more resources committed to the problem. Heck, it might even be an election issue.
Comments
6 responses
I’m so sorry, Clare.
You are completely right about that Clare. Kugluktuk had another one last week. That puts the total at 12 or 13 in just the last 3 years.
You bet it would be a big thing if there would be that many suicides in a big city down south – or for that matter in any big city around the world.
Those number comparisons are quite something. I figure that, proportionally, it would work out to about 22 suicides per year in the small Ontario town I grew up in. I can only imagine the reaction an event like that would cause.
Simply numbing.
Oh my. I had no idea. How very sad. I am so sorry. I just can’t even think of anything to say, I’m just rendered so speechless.
I’m slowly catching up on responding to comments. Thank you all for your thoughts on this. The numbers are indeed staggering.
“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” – John Donne