WATCH: Jewish Congresswoman Urges Struggling People To Seek Help On Anniversary Of Partner’s Death
Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) Image by House of Representatives
By Aiden Pink June 26, 2019
Speaking from the floor of the House of Representatives, Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania tearfully revealed on Tuesday night that her life partner had died by suicide the previous month, and urged people struggling with mental health issues to seek help.
“Why am I sharing this very personal story? Because we all need to recognize that mental health issues know no boundaries,” she said. “I do not want anyone else to suffer as he suffered, nor any family to suffer as mine has over the past month.”
Wild, who is Jewish, said her partner, 63-year-old Kerry Acker, “shouldn’t have had a care in the world,” with financial security and loving family and friends. “And yet, incomprehensibly, he seemingly did not grasp the toll the absence would have on those who loved him,” she said.
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
Wild urged people dealing with mental health issues to talk to loved ones and consider calling 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK.
“To anyone who is concerned about someone in their lives, please pick up the phone or take that drive to go see them. Don’t wait,” Wild concluded her speech, to applause from the gallery.
Wild, a Democrat who represents the Lehigh Valley, was first elected in 2018. She has co-sponsored bills aimed at improving access to mental health services through Medicare and Medicaid, Roll Call reported.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
