Woman affected by suicide plans prevention event

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) – Nine years ago, Chris Tanner and her family’s grief were thrown into the spotlight following the death of her husband and well-known auto dealer, Rich Burd.

Burd took his own life in the office of his Ford dealership in Lawrence.

According to his family, Burd’s decision was connected to the emotional toll of financial hardship.

His death was well publicized in central Indiana as Tanner and their four children coped with their loss.

In that way, she says she has related to recent national headlines on the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain.

Long before news of their passings, Tanner had organized an event for suicide prevention.

“When terrorism strikes, we talk about the terrorists… but when suicide strikes, we don’t say a word. Isn’t that odd? We should embrace what’s happening and talk about it,” Tanner said.

Tanner has remarried and formed along with her husband, Matt Tanner, the Rollfast Foundation in Hamilton County.

The group will host a walk and bike ride called on Saturday, June 16 to raise funds for an outreach program.

The event called Roll Out of Darkness will take place at Creekside Middle School in Carmel from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“We all believe that it can be changed and the only way to do it in our mind is to be social about it because we’re not doctors, we’re not clinicians, we’re people and we want to at least talk about it in a not-so-devastating way and get people out, and social because that’s what helps people realize that you’re not alone in the world,” Tanner said.

Ultimately, Tanner hopes money raised from Saturday’s event and others will help her reach every single person in Hamilton County. She is planning to create more than 300,000 mailers that will offer people advice on how to start conversations with struggling loved ones.