We Walk the Line: Turning loss into a lifeline

(Editor’s note: This story discusses suicide. If you or a loved one needs help, call or text the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988.)LANSING, Mich. (Aging Untold) — Members of the military and first responders run toward crisis and the repeated trauma can take a serious toll on mental health. A growing number of veterans and first responders are dying by suicide, struggling with the invisible wounds of service.The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates an average of 22 veterans take their own lives each day, and hundreds of first responders die by suicide annually.Two Michigan nonprofits are working together to help, providing free therapy and service dogs to veterans and first responders.For Tonya and Scott Shea, the mission is personal. Their son, Army Specialist Connor Shea, was a quiet, old soul with a passion for fishing and Johnny Cash.“His peaceful part of him was fishing. And he would just go on the lakes with his buddies or by himself, put in some headphones, listen to s