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Harry Miree speaks for Aware
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Photo by Madison Miller
Aware
Harry Miree speaks to members of Aware and other attendees.
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Photo by Madison Miller.
Aware
The Shindigs food truck at the Aware suicide prevention event at Crestline Elementary.
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Photo by Madison Miller.
Aware
Children played on the field before Miree spoke.
Harry Miree is happy to be here.
On Sept. 9, Miree addressed a group of residents at the Crestline Elementary field. The Aware meeting was held on the eve of World Suicide Prevention Day and also the seventh anniversary of Miree’s own suicide attempt.
Miree said his first thoughts of suicide came when he was just 8 years old. Growing up in Mountain Brook, the thought crossed his mind several times, but there were always people or even tasks keeping him from attempting his own suicide, he said. As a child, finishing a video game once prevented him from an attempt. Then, he said seven years ago there happened to be nothing keeping him around.
After surviving his attempt, Miree now works as a drummer in Nashville and is grateful to still be alive.
“There are still sad things in my life, but I’m glad I’m here,” Miree said in his speech.
Miree spoke on behalf of Aware, which formed in February after the suicide of Miree’s cousin, also a Mountain Brook resident. Miree’s YouTube video, “Journal of a Suicide Survior,” was created shortly after his cousin’s suicide and shares some of Miree’s own thought process when considering suicide. It now has over 7,400 views.
Aware’s goal is to open a platform to talk about suicide and the issues surrounding it, including mental health.
“If one person can be helped and not afraid to speak out and say, ‘Look, I’m hurting and I’m thinking about going away [it will help],” planning committee member Kat Lawson said. “I think people should be allowed to hurt out loud.”
To learn more about Aware, read about them here join their Facebook page.
Read more of Miree's personal story here.
