Congresswoman opens up on House floor about partner’s suicide

Rep. Susan Wild (D-Penn.) opened up about the death of her life partner Monday evening on the House floor to draw attention to the “national emergency” of suicide. 

Monday was the one-month anniversary of Kerry Acker’s death, Wild said. 

“What most people don’t know is that Kerry’s death was a suicide,” she said in a tearful floor speech. 

{mosads}Acker, who was 63, “shouldn’t have had a care in the world,” she said, adding that he was financially secure, with a loving family and dozens of friends. 

“He loved them all, and yet, incomprehensibly, he seemingly did not grasp the toll his absence would have on those who loved him,” she said. 

“Why am I sharing this very personal story? Because we all need to recognize that mental health issues know no boundaries. I do not want anyone else to suffer as he suffered, nor for any family to suffer as mine has over the past month.” 

I‘m sharing the story of my recent loss because we need to recognize that mental health issues know no boundaries. Behind the statistics are grieving partners and spouses, parents and children, siblings and friends. We must act – removing the stigma cannot just be a slogan. pic.twitter.com/3w9Ctue8dW

— Rep. Susan Wild (@RepSusanWild) June 26, 2019

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

The suicide rate increased by 33 percent between 1999 and 2017, the CDC reported last week. 

“Behind these numbers are grieving partners and spouses, parents and children, siblings, friends and relatives,” Wild said late Monday. 

“To anyone out there who is struggling: I’m urging you to reach out. There are people who love you and who will suffer more than you know if they lose you.”

The phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255.