If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
When Lexi Webb woke up on the morning of Feb. 6, 2019, at her Smiths Station home in Lee County, she was a vibrant, full of life teenager with a bright future. Before the day was over, she had taken her life.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that suicide is the second-leading cause of death among teens and young adults. Lexi’s mother, Andrea Mills, has turned the tragedy into a mission to save teen lives. She founded the Love Like Lexi Project and travels to high schools to share a message designed to prevent suicides in this vulnerable age group.
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Mills brought her program to Brookwood High School on Sept. 16 at the request of Kellie Hubbard, Brookwood’s principal. Hubbard’s her family endured a loss due to her nephew’s suicide during the summer.
“I got the idea from Dr. (Keri) Johnson (superintendent of the Tuscaloosa County School System) when I called to tell her my news,” Hubbard said. “She said she had been at a superintendent’s project that was a suicide awareness program. I reached out to Andrea, who is the mother of Lexi, which is where the Love Like Lexi Program comes from.