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Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

On Saturday, after several weeks of planning and discussion, the Tribune published its first story in a series focused on youth mental health.

As I was working on the story, a call came over the scanner in our office of a child who had attempted to take her own life.

My heart sank — for this child, her family and for the first responders.

I continued working on my story the rest of the day as we put together the newspaper, but I couldn’t help but think about this child, wondering and hoping she would be OK.

On Saturday evening, a GoFundMe page asking for support for this child and her family started circulating on social media, and I learned more about what had happened from the child’s mother who had written a post on the page.

My heart sank even deeper.

She wrote that her 11-year-old daughter had been found in a life-threatening condition — she actually did not have a pulse when responders arrived. With CPR, paramedics brought back a faint pulse and rushed her to the Albert Lea emergency room, where she was intubated and then ultimately taken to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester.

People near and far took to social media to share this mother’s story of her firstborn, to plead for prayers and to virtually wrap their arms around the family as they awaited the results of further testing Monday. Many are heartbroken.

With all of this happening, I felt conflicted to share the story we had written and had been planning for weeks.

I did not want to be insensitive to this family and did not want any keyboard warriors saying anything rude about this family, who is in the middle of their worst nightmare.

At the same time, however, statistics from our own community show that this precious, young girl is not the only one facing this challenge. Others are fighting the same fight — and many are even fighting silently. My heart hurts for all of them, too.

For that reason and others, we decided to continue with the series in hopes of helping others who are struggling.

To this 11-year-old’s family in our community who is mourning right now, please know that you are not alone. There are hundreds who are praying and wishing you comfort.

And to all those out there who may be experiencing struggles with your mental health, please know that it’s OK to seek help.

There are many resources out there for both children and adults alike. Just as we would seek professional help for a broken bone or heart disease, mental health should be no different.

We will dive into some of these resources more at the end of our series, but for today, please remember that help is available 24 hours a day through 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Wednesday.