Sumter Item website to get face-lift
A10
Year’s best Sears tops list of Wilson Hall baseball players garnering postseason awards B1 SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2014
$1.50
IN PANORAMA: Want a hot summer read? Locals chime in.
C1
SUICIDE: THOSE LEFT BEHIND
If they only knew MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Dispatchers work at the emergency call center in Sumter recently. The center will be going digital if funding from the new penny sales tax is approved.
How much for 911 to go digital? First responders say radio upgrade a pressing need EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series of stories examining the proposed projects for a renewed penny sales tax, which Sumter County voters will be asked to approve in November. Money raised by the tax will go toward a series of building, infrastructure and other projects throughout the county.
BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com (803) 774-1272 When the public’s safety is at stake, the ability of 911 dispatchers to reach emergency responders in the field can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Police, firefighters and medical personnel all need to know Sumter County’s emergency communications network is reliable, that signals can reach the people who need to hear them when they need to hear them. That’s why the single largest project slated to receive funding from a renewed penny sales tax is a $10 million project to replace the county’s aging communications equipment with a mandated alldigital radio system other services are adopting. The current analog system, originally adopted in 1997, is showing its age. “It’s just like a cell phone; there’s a shelf life on the technology,” said Police Chief Russell Roark, whose department houses the county’s 911 communications center and manages its radio network for all emergency responders. As the equipment ages, agencies have to deal with the effects even as they go about the business of saving lives. “There are several places in the outer parts of the county, like Rembert or I-95 or Pinewood, where the radios can get scratchy,” said Brian Hingst, director of Sumter County Emergency Medical Services. “If a crew can’t use a portable radio, they have to go back to the truck to talk to dispatch.” When a responder’s radio breaks, it’s often difficult to find new parts. Many of the devices used locally date back to the system’s adoption in the ’90s, and
MATT WALSH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Debbie Sage’s reflection is seen recently in the frame holding a picture of her and her brother, Keith, when they were children. Keith committed suicide in January 2013.
Husband, sister share grief in wife’s, brother’s suicides EDITOR’S NOTE: According to statistics from save.org, someone commits suicide every 16.2 minutes in America, totaling 30,000 a year. This story is the last of a series about the families left behind when a loved one commits suicide and the pain the families have endured since.
BY ROB COTTINGHAM rcottingham@theitem.com (803) 774-1225 “IF I HAD CHOSEN” Debbie Sage is just like any other hard-working American. Working as delivery receptionist at a local grocery store, she faces a very common daily grind. Her weeks are broken down into days, days into hours and hours into moments. Some moments are harder than others. On her bedroom wall is a framed poem that expresses a brother’s
‘They would not believe the terrible, long-lasting pain they will cause with their decision. Just wait one more day. Live by that, and you’ll see that things will get better. I promise.’ DEBBIE SAGE love for his sister titled “If I Had Chosen.” Every day, she wakes up, sees the poem and is shaken with a bittersweet reaction. Sage’s brother, Keith, gave her the framed poem years ago, as the
the
.com
SEE LEFT BEHIND, PAGE A6
HOW DOES IT FEEL? WHERE DO I TURN?
Seeking treatment for thoughts you can’t share SIGNS OF SUICIDE AND REACTIONS Dr. David Justice, clinical director of Behavioral Health Services at Sumter Family Health Center, gave these warning signs: • Losing interest in normal activities; • Sleeping too much or not at all; • Crying spells; • Unexplained changes in behavior; and • An increased use of alcohol or substance use. If you notice these signs, Justice said: • Broach the subject with the loved one. It’s a myth that this will “plant the idea” in the person’s mind; • Let them feel it’s OK to talk about it; and • Always treat any thoughts about suicide seriously. Again, it’s a myth that if they talk about it, they are not going to do it.
SEE 911 UPGRADE, PAGE A9
VISIT US ONLINE AT
two were very close and had been all their lives. In January 2013, however, things changed forever. Keith decided to take his own life. “It was the most devastating thing I’ve ever been through,” Sage said. “I’ll never forget his ex-wife calling to tell me it happened. I didn’t sleep at all that night. The next day, I went to work because I didn’t know what else to do.” Keith was living in Las Vegas at the time of his death, working at a veterinary clinic after retiring from a career in the military. For many years, he’d struggled with bipolar disorder and had been suffering from chronic back pain for quite a while. His suffering led him to distance himself from his sister. “At one point, he saw the poem and couldn’t even remember giving it to me,” Sage said. “It was so sad. It hurt.”
DEATHS, A11 Jack E. Wilkes Brian T. Colbert Alexander B. Dixon Myrtle B. Gainey Larry R. Anderson
Ada Cotton Margaret Smith Robert N. Hellams Wendy M. Watts
BY JADE REYNOLDS jade@theitem.com (803) 774-1250 While for some the thought of even imagining committing suicide might be difficult to grasp, in 2012, 22 people in the tri-county area not only considered it, but performed the act. “It’s hard to explain,” said a 52-year-old Sumter woman. “Suicide to me is an end to what I go through every day. No more nightmares. No more depression. That’s not how most people think of it, but I, myself, and others I’ve talked to do. So it’s a battle. An ad-
diction. Some people are addicted to drugs. I’m addicted to suicide.” Two family members molested her when she was a child. She deals with anxiety and panic attacks. She works from home because she can’t be around lots of people. She can break down while at a store and have to leave. She lost a 12-year-old niece to suicide. “She hung herself,” the Sumter woman said. “I don’t think it was intentional. I think she was trying to get attention. It went too far, and
SEE GETTING HELP, PAGE A6
WEATHER, A12
INSIDE
SPOTTY STORMS
5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES VOL. 119, NO. 219
An afternoon shower or thunderstorm in the day; a stray storm in the evening. HIGH 88, LOW 71
Business D1 Classifieds D3 Comics E1
Lotteries A12 Opinion A10 Television E3