‘We all want our loved ones to be remembered’: Walk in Halifax takes place on Suicide Prevention Day

A mourning mother turns her pain into purpose, after losing her daughter to suicide.

A “Walk to Remember” in honour of World Suicide Prevention Day will take place in Lower Sackville, N.S., on Sept. 10.

The walk begins at 5 p.m. starting at the Sackville Lion’s Club to remember loved ones who have died by suicide.

“My youngest child Nicole started struggling mentally when she was around 11 or 12,” said Barbie Burkert.

In 2017, Nicole Burkert took her own life.

Two years later, Burkert was walking in the park when the idea of the ”Walk to Remember” came to her.

The first walk happened on Sept. 10, 2019, a day designated as World Suicide Prevention Day.

After the walk, a local MLA suggested walking along the Greenway Trail.

“I decided that maybe we could have a rock wall,” Burkert said.

People who had lost loved ones to suicide could send in their names to be painted on a rock and placed along the trail.

“We wanted to provide help, but we also wanted to give comfort, to bring people together from all communities,” she said. “And not just people that lost someone to suicide but also people who are struggling with their own mental health.”

Burkert said the walk offers community and a safe place to discuss suicide, which she said is often not a welcomed topic due to the stigma behind it.

“It’s important that people come together because everyone needs to feel like they’re not alone,” she said.

The walk offers healing by talking about and remembering loved ones.

“We all want our loved ones to be remembered,” Burkert said.

Donations for the walk can be made to [e-mail]. More information about the walk is available on the Sackville Suicide Walk to Remember page.

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