Hi, I’m Andy Medders and I’m about to do my 22 pushups for 22Kill, to honor those who serve.
While I was in the Army I personally witnessed a young soldier as he laid in an ambulance and his life was slipping away due to self-inflicted wounds. I also know a couple of soldiers who are still here today, but have almost ended their lives due to reasons I can’t explain. It’s because of these men that I’m accepting a challenge to do 22 push-ups for the next 22 days to promote suicide awareness.
I did a little research on this challenge and am taking my commitment a step further. At the end of my 22 days I am going to donate to 22kill.com. The people behind that website are the ones who started this challenge and have a portal setup and 100% OF DONATIONS GO TOWARDS THE SUPPORT OF EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
History of #22KILL and video: (from https://www.22kill.com/)
Honor Courage Commitment, Inc. started the #22KILL movement in 2013 after learning about the staggering statistic that an average of 22 veterans are killed by suicide every day. HCC has committed to researching and understanding the genesis of this epidemic, and educating the general public on the issue. #22KILL is a platform to raise awareness not just towards veteran suicide, but also to the issues that can lead them to suicide. These mental health issues can stem from Post Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, or the struggles and stresses of transitioning from military to civilian life.
Steps to participate in the 22 push-ups challenge:
- Record yourself each day doing 22 push-ups, try your best to reach 22 if that means doing assisted push-ups or that you have to stop and take a break that is fine but try to get them all done in one video.
- Nominate a different person every day try to choose people you think will want to do this and or have the ability to do it.
- Include the following in your social media post, “Today is day 1 of 22. Today I nominate [INSERT NAME], you start your day 1 tomorrow. Each of the push-ups represents the number of US veterans we lose to suicide each day- but tragically this isn’t just a US veteran issue, it affects veterans everywhere, including Australia and New Zealand. The rules are simple: *Once you are nominated your 22 days starts the following day*”
- Finally, have fun with this. This is a simple and fun way to get the word out about a matter that more people need to be aware of. These brave men and women put their lives on the line to protect our freedom only to get out and feel lost. It’s not okay that so many good veterans feel that suicide is the only way out.
Here’s my playlist completing the daily challenge:
My Nominees:
01 – Aimee Medders
02 – Mike Medders
03 – Carol Pearce
04 – Will Pearce
05 – Jill Sollid
06 – Art Mills
07 – Byran Beggs
08 – David Wieber
09 – Ken Loper
10 – Raymond Garibay
11 – Jim Flickinger
12 – Andras Illes
13 – Nik Day
14 – Manuela Hinkleman
15 – Mark Barkley
16 – Nikki Castillo
17 – Glenn Schrock
18 – Josh Hamilton
19 – Drew Leonard
20 – Josh Funkhouser
21 – Eric Braun
22 – Sara Del Bosque
I hope many of you will accept this challenge and maybe you’ll even consider donating to this organization or one like it.