49ers’ Solomon heads up Dad2Dad event

By Juliette Coulter

Fresh off the field from Super Bowl LIV, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Solomon Thomas will speak at the March 3 Dad2Dad Breakfast Speaker Series presented by Grant Halliburton Foundation. 

This talk is geared for fathers or male caretakers who are on the journey with a teen or young adult with a mental health condition. The Dallas native will talk openly about his sister Ella’s death by suicide and his mission to fight this national mental health crisis.

In a recent ESPN essay, Thomas said, “We have to reach people at a young age and bring awareness to depression and anxiety and take away the stigma. The worst thing we can do is to ignore the warning signs or encourage kids to bottle things up and not cry or talk about what’s bothering them.”

The event is on Tuesday, March 3 beginning at 7:30 a.m. at Royal Oaks Country Club, 7915 Greenville Ave. in Dallas.

Adolescent mental health has become a serious public health crisis:

• One in five young people suffers from a diagnosable mental illness.

• Approximately half of all mental illnesses begin by age 14, yet on average it is 10 years before people seek help.

• A teen is lost to suicide at a rate of one per day in Texas and two per week in the Metroplex.

• And the most shocking statistic of all, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in eight Texas high school students reported having attempted suicide during the past 12 months. That is twice the national average. For more information and to RSVP, visit GrantHalliburton.org/dad2dad. Please, no children or teens. This event is for dads or male caretakers of adolescents struggling with a mental or emotional health condition. More information can be found at GrantHalliburton.org.