BELCHERTOWN — Heather Twining’s pain has propelled her toward a new purpose: suicide prevention.
She and her family suffered a tragedy when her teenage son, Aaron Twining, died by suicide in October 2019. He was 15 years old at the time.
“I spent the first couple of weeks to a month crying every morning, thinking how unbelievable it was that it was real and that he was gone and then it transitioned to ‘How did I not know? I was his mom,’” she said.
Through that grief, she came together with a committee of volunteers to coordinate and host the inaugural Aaron’s Race 01007 on Saturday. The event was held at Belchertown High School in memory of Twining’s son, Aaron, and featured a raffle, an ice cream truck, K-9 demonstrations from Belchertown Police Department, and a DJ.
All proceeds raised are going toward teen suicide prevention and awareness.
“This is important because I don’t want anyone else to go through this,” said Twining. “I can’t change (what happened). But I can tell you I’ve helped at least four children since he passed, in different ways, so there is a meaning behind this tragedy.”
Inside the school’s gymnasium was a competition open to all with nearly 60 cars in a Pinewood Derby ranging from a miniature Batmobile to a Pikachu-mobile, a character from the animated series Pokémon.
Among the committee members were several friends from the Boy Scouts, including Gloria Fortunato and Tim Plant, who was Aaron Twining’s former Boy Scout troop leader. The committee met once a week for more than a year to organize the event.
“I’ve got goosebumps,” Fortunato said while running her fingers up her arm on Saturday. “They took their grief and sorrow and channeled it into this wonderful event.”
Looking around the gymnasium, Plant described the occasion as being very bittersweet as all his emotions hit him and he remembered why everyone was there.
“It’s hard, but this was definitely a pleasure to do,” he said. “I’m glad it all came together.”
In addition to providing a vehicle that attendees could explore, Massachusetts State Police troopers clocked the speed of the cars in the Pinewood Derby and a few foot races inside the gymnasium.
Aaron’s Race also included a booth with pamphlets and information from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, which is headquartered in New York City, but has local chapters all over the country.
In Massachusetts, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 10 and 24 as well as those between the ages of 25 and 34, according to Karen Carreira, co-chairperson of the Advocacy Committee for the Massachusetts chapter of the board of directors for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
“Mental health and suicide are still blanketed by stigma … some still consider death by suicide to be shameful,” she said. “It’s important to continue elevating awareness of suicide prevention.”
Federal guidelines collected by the organization show that 67.70% of communities did not have enough mental health providers to serve residents in 2021.
Carreira is also a loss survivor from Ludlow. Her son, Nathan Carreira, died by suicide in 2018. He was 15 years old.
“We’ve learned that talking about it or saying the word ‘suicide’ will not create a death, but safe messaging does matter,” she said, noting that the organization offers in-person training that was developed for schools.
In the future, Twining would like Aaron’s Race to become an annual event. She’d also like more education on suicide prevention to be available.
“My heart is full seeing all these people coming and supporting me, Aaron and the cause today,” she said. “I would like to see — whether it be in Belchertown or other surrounding towns — there be more education even at the younger grades, not just the high school, and let them know it’s OK to talk, it’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK to reach out to somebody even if it’s not your family. And it’s OK to mention the word suicide.”
Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.
