the following program was pre-recorded on WF it's time for hello my name is Craig all right before we get out of here today I wanted to bring a friend to the show on Ryan who joined us uh last year uh regarding a company called fish and uh his amazing app called Hey and the reason I want to bring Ryan back is because September is suicide prevention month and unfortunately gambling acts have the highest rate of suicide amongst all addictions uh and I think we're is doing with his family friends is really amazing Ryan good morning how you doing today pal very good Craig thanks for having me back on I really appreciate it yeah so let's talk about fish first tell everybody what it stands for what the acronym is sure fish is s for Faith Integrity strength and honor and it's really intended to bring awareness to people struggling uh with mental and emotional health and isolation issues and and all the clothes that we sell all the proceeds go to support organizations that help Foster and promote those uh those benefits and also to support the H app um which is really what we focused on design by the way I can speak for a second because I have a bunch of the sweatshirts it's they're badass hoodies and also you know the money all goes to this amazing cause that's important you know you talked about the ha app uh which I experienced as well and it's an opportunity it's kind of peer-to-peer help for people that might be feeling a certain way you know uh and feel alone and by themselves that there are resources out there to help people get through it might be a bad day a bad night Etc uh before you walk through the ha app if you don't mind sharing why this initiative is so important to you and your family sure I I lost my coach and mentor to suicide in 2010 coach Brian mayor Welsh um and and then several years later um I lost a fraternity brother and then two years ago lost one of my best friends and and we kind of felt that there was a need to try and do something to further awareness of the mental health issue and the stigma associated with discussing it and clothing was just one way that we could do as a means to people could wear it and be ambassadors to promote that it's okay to talk about it it's okay to keep going it's okay to focus on um you know the things we need to accomplish to be positive in our lives so that was really the inspiration was to try and do do something positive from coming from the the negative experiences that I personally had so the app is called hey it's got two y's so it's h y y you can download it on Android or iOS and tell people what the app's purpose is and if they do download it what they'll find sure the biggest thing is that we've wanted to break down the barriers that prohibit people from reaching out to someone or anyone and the app is absolutely free there are no ads there are no solicitations and even better it's Anonymous nobody needs to know who the other person is it's simply a mechanism to reach out when you download the app you simply input your first name don't even need to put your last name your phone number your email address you create whatever username you want and then if you're having a bad day or you're really struggling you simply press the hey button and it automatically reaches out to compassionate individuals throughout the United States and somebody will pick it up and respond I've done personally handled dozens and dozens of communications um my 13-year-old daughter has as well my my my 17-year-old daughter um has also been a compassionate listener for others that are out there which is amazing that it goes that young yeah so and so ultimately the purpose of it is you know look and I've been there um where you you're contemplating not waking up in the morning so I've lived this right and it's a sensitive issue to me I don't like talking about it a lot but I can't hide the fact that it is a part of my life story that when I was out in Whistler I've told this story a few times not a lot you know and I I can't say I wanted to die but I certainly was going to jump off a ski lift uh a couple hundred feet down to a mountain and I know what the end result of that most likely would have been so it's it's it's a sensitive issue for me having had that experience and having talked to so many gamblers in recovery and I know I know the app is not specific towards gamblers it's towards people who just feel like there's no way out and are desperate to connect with someone that at times will just listen whether it's it may not be all for advice but it's a shoulder to cry on and someone to listen to so I think it's a very valuable resource that people need to know about but in in the the short amount of time the app has been available has the app reached people that are in that position that I was in and help them Live Another Day it it absolutely has and I'm glad happy to say that it's worked in that way um I personally have helped a couple people that were were in a very bad situation one in particular I'll talk briefly about it they were in West Virginia they had lost their insurance about a year ago and had been diagnosed with some depression um and they just did not know what to do and this was their last fastion of Hope and reached out and um you know I've followed up with that individual and I'm happy to say that things have gotten more positive for that person um there was another individual who was isolated with covid and was you know in a desperate situation and we've had a couple situations where we've been able to get people over to Hash 988 through the app to get the Suicide Prevention Hotline Specialists to help them so it's been very successful and I can tell you again from life experience if I didn't have my phone with me and I called a dear friend of mine who I I actually recently connected with and it was this really amazing emotional moment for me uh a young man named sherro Williams who is a dear close personal friend and worked with me in radio in New Jersey and when I was contemplating jumping off this uh you know ski this chairlift at and Whistler thank God he answered the phone um and he talked to me until I got to the place where my two feet were on the ground and I didn't jump and unfortunately the way life and life circumstances I didn't speak to him for almost 6 years after that moment and we just recently reconnected it was a very as you can imagine emotional moment but I can speak to the fact that one phone call one conversation one person on a on an app can absolutely save somebody's life so it's called Hey with two eyes Hy y you can download it in the App Store you can also if you want to if I'm not mistaken Ry you can sign up to be one of those uh people that's willing to listen a compassionate listener correct absolutely when you download the app you simply just in indicate toggle a button that you want to be a listener and be someone that's that people can reach out to right there one little button I think what you're doing is great um I'm all in to help uh you guys out as you know any way I can I think it's great that you're paying it forward and using you know the tragedies that you've experienced in your life to help other families avoid those tragedies and I hope everybody downloads the app and if you have someone in your life that you recognize is feeling a certain way either be there for them yourself or certainly you know get them on the app so they can reach out to someone uh who can listen to them as well and uh I'm glad you're doing I'm glad to be a part of it and a continued success and thank you so much for joining us okay thank you enough for everything you've done Craig greatly appreciate it of course that's Ryan the company's called fish go check it out and the app is called hey hy y please download and again suicide is real we can't avoid the conversation we need to have the conversation and if this is one small step forward in making people more comfortable and willing to have the conversation then job well done appreciate Ryan appreciate Robert Pat Bole producing Today's Show uh Joe bingo I think is coming up next and we'll see you again next week right here on hello my name is Craig