Dave Hardy continues to honor the memory of his son, David, a Cherry grad who died by suicide in 2022. And that means supporting the organization called Stop Soldier Suicide.

Stop Soldier Suicide continues their mission to prevent our military members from dying by suicide.

One of the ways is through their Black Box Project. Families of loved ones who died by suicide donate their devices, like cell phones and tablets.

Information from those could help researchers understand more about the path to suicide, and then, more ways to help prevent them.

Hardy said that the week before his son died, he had a mental and physical assessment. And there were no red flags.

This is not a surprise, according to the data already collected.

Austin Grimes, Chief Product Officer for Stop Soldier Suicide, said, “About 2/3 of the veterans who die by suicide didn’t share suicidal thoughts with anyone around them. But when we look at what was on their devices, we see quite a difference between external and internal persona. This can help with downstream efforts, as we partner with community based resources. We an help them focus those resources.”

Grimes added that they are in awe of the people who loan the devices to them.

The data scientists can copy the data in a de-identified manner for AI and machine learning.

They’ve identified other factors, like sleep changes and financial stress, can show strong correlations to suicide risk.

More devices are needed, to continue the work.

https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/