Brittany Rebecca Helton

Please read these… you may be able to help someone save their own life:

Suicide Facts

• Suicide takes the lives of nearly 30,000 Americans every year.
• Many who attempt suicide never seek professional care.
• There are twice as many deaths due to suicide than HIV/AIDS.
• Between 1952 and 1995, suicide in young adults nearly tripled.
• Over half of all suicides occur in adult men, ages 25-65.
• In the month prior to their suicide, 75% of elderly persons had visited a physician.
• Suicide rates in the United States are highest in the spring.
• Over half of all suicides are completed with a firearm.
• For young people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death.
• Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed.
• 80% of people that seek treatment for depression are treated successfully.
• 15% of those who are clinically depressed die by suicide.
• There are an estimated 8 to 25 attempted suicides to 1 completion.
• The highest suicide rate is among men over 85 years old: 65 per 100,000 persons.
• 1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide each year.
• Substance abuse is a risk factor for suicide.
• The strongest risk factor for suicide is depression.
• By 2010, depression will be the #1 disability in the world. (World Health Organization)
• In 2004, 32,439 people died by suicide. (CDC)
• Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. (homicide is 15th). (CDC)
• Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old Americans. (CDC)
• It is estimated that there are at least 4.5 million survivors in this country. (AAS)
• An average of one person dies by suicide every 16.2 minutes. (CDC, AAS)
• There are four male suicides for every female suicide. (CDC, AAS)
• Research has shown medications and therapy to be effective suicide prevention.
• Suicide can be prevented through education and public awareness.
• Last year SAVE educated 10,618 youth & parents on depression and suicide prevention.
• Last year SAVE received 810 requests for information from 72 countries.
• In 2004 it is estimated there were 811,000 suicide attempts in the US. (AAS)
• There are three female suicide attempts for each male attempt. (CDC, AAS)
• According to the Violent Death Reporting System, in 2004 73% of suicides also tested positive for at least one substance (alcohol, cocaine, heroin or marijuana).

Excerpt from SAVE | Suicide Facts.

Why
By Rascal Flatts

It must’ve been in a place so dark you couldn’t feel the light
Reachin’ for you through that stormy cloud
Now here we are gathered in our little hometown
This can’t be the way you meant to draw a crowd

Oh, why? That’s what I keep askin’
Was there anything I could have said or done?
Oh, I had no clue you were masking
A troubled soul, God only knows what went wrong
And why you’d leave the stage in the middle of a song

Now in my mind I keep you frozen as a seventeen year old
Roundin’ third to score the winning run
You always played with passion no matter what the game
When you took the stage, you shined just like the sun

Oh, why? That’s what I keep askin’
And was there anything I could have said or done?
Oh, I had no clue you were masking
A troubled soul, oh, God only knows what went wrong
And why you’d leave the stage in the middle of a song

Now the oak trees are swayin’ in the early autumn breeze
The golden sun is shining on my face
The tangled thoughts I hear a mockingbird sing
This old world really ain’t that bad a place

Oh, why? There’s no comprehending
And who am I to try to judge or explain?
Oh, but I do have one burning question
Who told you life wasn’t worth the fight?
They were wrong, they lied, and now you’re gone, and we cried

‘Cause it’s not like you to walk away in the middle of a song
Your beautiful song, your absolutely beautiful song

Download ‘Why’ in iTunes

This is the TRUE and ACCURATE obituary of Brittany Rebecca Helton, as she lived and as she passed. The obituary that has been listed in any other newspaper is not factual and is full of false statements by Brittany’s stepmother.

Brittany Rebecca Helton, 19, a student, of Muncy, Pa., passed away Aug. 4, 2010. She was born July 3, 1991, in Las Vegas. Brittany graduated from Muncy H.S. in 2009, where she was on the National Honor Roll and a member of the Key Club. She attended Lycoming College, where she was on the Dean’s List. She was a loving sister, daughter, granddaughter and friend. Brittany is survived by her mother and stepfather, Stacey L. Ackermann and Troy A. Ackermann, both of Las Vegas; sister and brother-in-law, Ashley and Jeff Lamb of Twentynine Palms, Calif.; sisters, Sheridan and Tristann Ackermann of Las Vegas; and grandparents, Mike and Sue White of Las Vegas. Funeral services were held in Montoursville, Pa., at Spitler Funeral Home.

As published in the Las Vegas Review Journal.

My Brittany was born on July 3, 1991 at Nellis Air Force Base. We had just left El Paso after her father finished school and we were on leave here in Vegas. She was stubborn even before she was born! She was 3 weeks late and I was in labor with her for 33 hours. She was a BIG baby, weighing in a little over 8 lbs. She soon adopted the nickname ‘Chunky Monkey’! She was the cutest, fattest little thing who was a very happy baby! She was amazing and had the sweetest little smile. Her freckles came later on, and did they come on like gangbusters! (She gets those from me!!!)

She had a favorite baby and blanket that went EVERYWHERE with us! She would never let me wash them, so I would sneak in while she was napping and wash them and pull them out of the dryer before she even knew they were gone.

Brittany Rebecca Helton
July 3rd, 1991 – August 4th, 2010