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Ask a Vet
Author: TriSec    Date: 04/28/2025 23:53:00

Let us speak of a thing near and dear to my heart today - Baseball!

But Trisec, isn't this a veteran's column?

Ah - read on.


You may have heard of an ugly incident at the Cleveland/Boston game this past Sunday. It did gain some national traction in the sports press.


CLEVELAND -- Jarren Duran has found plenty of support from his Boston Red Sox teammates and others since he revealed in a Netflix documentary that he attempted suicide three years ago.

However, Duran said Sunday that a fan in the front row near the Red Sox dugout in Cleveland said "something inappropriate" to him after the All-Star left fielder flied out in the seventh inning of a 13-3 victory over the Guardians.

Duran stayed on the top step of the dugout and glared at the fan as the inning played out. During the seventh-inning stretch, before the singing of "God Bless America," Red Sox teammates and coaches kept Duran away from the area as umpires and Progressive Field security personnel gathered to handle the situation.

The fan tried to run up the aisle but was caught by security and taken out of the stadium.

"The fan just said something inappropriate. I'm just happy that the security handled it and the umpires were aware of it and they took care of it for me," Duran said.

After the game, the Guardians released a statement apologizing to the Red Sox and Duran. The team said it had identified the fan and was working with Major League Baseball on next steps.

Duran said it was the first time he was taunted by a fan about his suicide attempt and mental health struggles since the Netflix series "The Clubhouse: A Year With the Red Sox" was released April 8.

"When you open yourself up like that, you also open yourself up to the enemies. But I have a good support staff around me, teammates, coaches. There were fans that were supporting me, so that was awesome," he said.


What makes this interesting is the player involved. It's referenced in the story. Netflix gained unprecedented access to the Red Sox clubhouse last year, and produced what is by all accounts a spectacular documentary on a baseball season. (Not seen it yet - saving it for vacation.)

In any case, a dramatic moment came when the young Red Sock admitted that he tried to take his own life about three years ago. This prompted high praise from MLB and many other support groups, and it was noted that there was an enormous spike in calls to many suicide prevention hotlines in the days following the series' release.

Ah, but this is the Trumpian Era. While this isn't directly veteran-related, the Felon has proposed defunding an LGBTQ hotline.


(CNN) – The Trump administration is looking into cutting the 988 suicide prevention and crisis lifeline’s services for the LGBTQ+ community.

According to an internal document from earlier this month, the proposal pushes for slashing overall health spending and a reconstruction of health agencies.

If this budget draft goes into effect, defunding special services for LGBTQ+ youth through the lifeline could happen by Oct. 1, according to The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention group.

The White House Office of Management and Budget didn’t comment on the issue.

During his first term in 2020, President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill that made 988 the number for the suicide hotline.


As we all know, nature abhors a vacuum. Wherever the United States fails, it seems more often that the Maple Leaf is ready to take up the slack. Of course, none of our media has reported that - note the source.


Several social media users claimed that President Donald Trump's plan to shut down the 988 Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline’s specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth has prompted Canada to broadcast a toll-free hotline for Americans. This comes as CNN cited an internal document to report that the Trump administration is suspending the key suicide hotline in a cost-cutting effort.

“As Trump shuts down the suicide hotline, Canada has broadcasted their national hotline which now has a toll-free American version: 1-877-330-6366,” one person said on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. Their post soon went viral with over 150 likes and 130 retweets.


Why does this matter to veterans? Each and every step against one group, is a step against us all. Consider these statistics:

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 14, and the third leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) young people are at significantly increased risk.

LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers (Johns et al., 2019; Johns et al., 2020).

The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people (ages 13-24) seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S. — and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds.

The Trevor Project’s 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People found that 41% of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including roughly half of transgender and nonbinary youth.


Veteran's statistics are a little more developed, and we've reported on this off and on over the years here at AAV.


In 2022, there were 6,407 suicides among Veterans and 41,484 among non-Veteran U.S. adults.

Among all U.S. adults in 2022, there were, on average, 131.2 suicides per day, with 17.6 Veteran suicides per day.

On average, seven suicides per day were among Veterans who received Veterans Health Administration (VHA) care in 2021 or 2022, and 10.6 were among other Veterans.


No matter what the Felon ends up doing in this instance - people will die.





If you need to talk, the 988 Lifeline is here.
At the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, we understand that life's challenges can sometimes be difficult. Whether you're facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just need someone to talk to, our caring counselors are here for you. You are not alone.

 

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