Hope Sauk Prairie grows from the tragedy of local suicides

Anna Block loved being in the outdoors, whether deer hunting, running or biking; and she loved and competed in gymnastics. A good friend with a caring heart, she was known to dance around the living room of her Prairie du Sac home to whatever song inspired her in the moment. Having just turned 16, Block was set to get her driver’s license. 

Sadly, she never made it. Instead of taking her driver’s exam on Monday, June 15, 2015, she had taken her own life the day before.

Ken Block, Anna’s father, worked as an emergency room technician at Sauk Prairie Hospital, and is a member of the Sauk Prairie Ambulance crew and a former member of the Prairie du Sac Fire Department. In these roles, Ken Block was unfortunately no stranger to suicide, having received training working in crisis situations.  But the Prairie du Sac native never thought it would hit so close to home.

With so many unanswered questions, the Block family began looking for anything that would explain why a young girl with so much ahead of her would choose such a permanent fate.

Ken Block said after searching his daughter’s phone and social media accounts, his wife, Susan and he, believe they’d discovered at least part of the reason.

“There was a lot of online bullying she didn’t tell us about,” Ken Block said. “There is also a mental health component on one side of the family – we think there was something we didn’t detect. We believe the bullying might have been a trigger.”

Block said there is so much that is different about the way kids interact today than when he was younger. “Now, you can be a thousand miles away from someone and (call them a name) and you just don’t know how that effects a person,” Block said. “You can’t see their facial expression. It’s easier now to put distance between yourself and someone else. Back when we were kids, you just beat the living daylights out of each other and the next day things were fine.”

Ken said he and his wife knew Anna had a lot on her plate, and always checked in with her and her siblings to see how school was, how things were going, and general inquiries about the goings-on in their lives.

The kids would give the standard teenage answers: Things were fine, everything was fine. They shared some things, but not everything.

But for Anna, things weren’t fine. “As parents, we just didn’t see,” Block admitted. 

And Hindsight, as the saying goes, is 20/20. “She was a pack rack; later we found Christmas cards in her room for three to five years earlier,” Block said. “We’d throw things out; she’d pull them out of the trash later.”

Block said he also recalls in the weeks preceding Anna’s death: she had taken to isolating herself from the rest of her family. “I think she had been a little more open with some of her friends from school,” Block said. “I don’t know...maybe she got overwhelmed with things and didn’t trust to tell us.”

In contrast, Scott Alt’s family knew things were tough for the former Sauk Prairie area resident. He’d lost his 14-month-old daughter Nikki, to an infection following heart complications.

“It was a real heart-breaker, especially for Scott,” Roger Alt said of his son. “He kept it all inside. He wouldn’t go to the cemetery. I tried to talk to him about it a few times. He wouldn’t talk about it.”

Later, when Scott’s wife, Joanne was pregnant with their son, Tanner, Scott injured himself in a fall at a construction site. He landed so close to steel rods, Roger said, any closer and it would have likely killed him.

The first sign something was off was when Roger and Sandra, Scott’s mother, stopped by their son’s house for an impromptu visit.  “He came outside to see us with a gun, which wasn’t in itself unusual,” Roger said, noting Scott was an avid outdoorsman. “But he left right away telling us he was going to shoot some blackbirds, which he did. But when he came back, he said, ‘I don’t want you coming here anymore or calling me.’” In the car on the drive home, Roger said he turned to his wife and said, “Something’s wrong.”

But as it often does, life went on for the family, and the odd incident was temporarily forgotten. The family was busy with work and running from place to place with Tanner. Scott and Joanne were busy tending to their farmette, taking long drives or antiquing. They’d all get together and go hunting as a family.

Then one day Tanner called Roger and Sandra, worried because Scott was manic. He’d been diagnosed a while back with bipolar disorder, and had been taking medication for it. They went over, hoping to convince their son to go to the hospital. He refused, instead insisting he and Tanner split wood. Roger recounted when the two were done, Scott told Tanner he loved him as he left.

On the morning of Oct. 27, 2014, Scott Alt got up, readied himself for work, and left for the job site. His family would never see him alive again, having taken his life in a construction trailer.  

“I knew he took medicine for a while, but I didn’t hear much about it,” Roger said. “I just thought he was dealing with it.”

Pausing, Roger reflected on a recalled memory. “One day we were out for a walk, and Scott said, ‘Dad, we always talk about hunting and fishing. Let’s talk about something serious.’ I said, alright. But he didn’t say anything. He couldn’t.”

Melanie Alt said she never suspected anything was wrong with her brother. “I hadn’t really ever seen anything,” she said. “He always seemed so happy-go-lucky, kidding and joking around.”

After her bother’s suicide, Melanie said she questioned herself relentlessly if she had missed something, or whether it would have made a difference if she had known.  Roger Alt said he wondered the same.

The relentless feeling of guilt and questioning why he hadn’t noticed more about his daughter almost led to the same dark place for Ken Block.

“Three months or so after Anna’s suicide, I got into a bad depressive state,” Ken Block said. “It wasn’t a pretty picture. I had insomnia real bad. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get to sleep and I just kept thinking of Anna.”

Block said he credits his dog, Rose, with getting him out of a very dark place. “She knew something was wrong with me, and she kept nudging me and nudging me, and finally brought me out, before I did anything I would have regretted.” 

Fortunately, the Blocks had the love and support of the community following their daughter’s death.

“I was on the Prairie du Sac Fire Department for 20 years and with Sauk Prairie Ambulance,” Block said. “I’m used to being the one giving the help. After Anna’s suicide, to be on the receiving end of help – it was very difficult for me. It was hard being the one who needed help.”

The Blocks were overwhelmed by the response of his fellow emergency service family, and those members of service personnel from surrounding communities.  “Anna did a lot to help the fire department whenever she could,” Block said. “A lot of people knew her.”

In the months prior to Anna Block’s death, Sauk Prairie High School Principal Chad Harnisch said students in the school were concerned and wanted to do something to call attention to the mental health epidemic that was happening nationally – as well as locally.  Between August 2014 and August 2015, the Sauk Prairie area had been hit with several suicides – from parents of current students to former students. Harnisch said he allowed the students to use his Twitter account to get some groups formed and discussions going about how they could enhance the things the district already had in place for support – and to learn about new things the district could do to support those experiencing a mental health crisis.

“In the spring of 2015, we began having ongoing conversations with students about doing a better job of responding to mental health issues,” Harnisch said. “School ended for the year, and we had a plan to come back and revisit the subject in the fall. 

That summer, Anna Block took her own life. 

“I can remember assigning some level of blame to myself; that we had not responded fast enough to save her, and that maybe somehow we could have,” Harnisch said. “I know that’s a natural, normal thing people do after something like that happens.”

However, Harnisch said in hindsight, his reaction probably wasn’t healthy for himself or his staff.

“My response was to aggressively communicate to staff we had to do more,” Harnisch said. “I had this frenetic urgency to work harder than we were already working. It probably, no most certainly, wasn’t healthy...the pressure I brought to bear after that probably wasn’t good for anyone involved.”

However, the district did take big steps to better understand how best to support students experiencing a mental health crisis. Community forums were held, the district dedicated budget dollars to send staff to mental health conferences and receive special training. The high school started partnering with local providers to be a host site to help students have better access to counseling and assessment.

Hope Sauk Prairie was also born in the aftershock.

“We started talking about how there was a need to have some sort of suicide prevention group to let people know about all the resources available to them,” Harnisch said. “I felt I had a better pulse on what we were doing in the schools, but there was still concern about other people in the community and how best to reach them.”

Sauk Prairie Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tywana German is a member of the group, which she described as not an official nonprofit organization, but as “just a group of people who get together monthly. We make sure people know what resources are available to them, and try to raise awareness of suicide. Being a part of Hope Sauk Prairie has changed my heart.”

According to the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34. More than 45 percent of people who die by suicide have a diagnosed mental health condition. Fifty percent of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14.

But not all who attempt of complete suicide have been diagnosed, and some signs of suicidal ideation can be missed.

Ken Block said he often wonders if he might have noticed something had he worked less and been around more. He blamed himself for his daughter’s suicide, because he didn’t go home to check on her after not hearing from her. At the time, he just assumed she hadn’t gotten back from her camping trip yet. 

“Something like this tends to split families up,” Block said. “It almost did us. But I think we have grown stronger. There are days we think, what if we had done this, or done that on that day. But then we know if not then, it might have happened on a different day.”

“Five years have gone by since Scott died,” Roger Alt said. “It isn’t as hard as it used to be, but it’s still not the same. It will never be the same. It’s not much easier. It’s just – different.”

Block had similar words. “It will never be the same without Anna,” he said. “It’s just a new normal.”

He cautioned parents to keep tabs on their kids’ online presence. “They are probably going to hate you for it, but you have to do it,” Block said. “A friend of mine once said to me, ‘If she’d only waited one more day, she might still be here.’ But my doctor told me when someone is in that sort of state, they can’t see the bigger picture. It’s like they have tunnel vision.” 

Harnisch said he wants everyone to know there are resources out there, and to not be afraid to use them.

“If you can, talk to a doctor, a family member, teacher, your mom and dad … there are things we can do to support those struggling,” Harnisch said. “Counselors are available, there are support groups and online resources. “If you feel like there is nothing you can do to solve whatever is happening – that’s the time you have to talk to someone. If you feel there is not a way forward, you can get to the point you make a permanent decision to a temporary problem. That’s why there is the word ‘hope’ in Hope Sauk Prairie – because no matter how hard today is, there’s hope for a better tomorrow.”