How one Vail mother is using her family's tragedy to help other students

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Ethan Ardrey was 13 years old when he lost his battle to mental health in 2020.

Now, nearly four years later, his mom, Christina Winner is using that tragedy to help spread a more positive message.

Winner started the Ethan Ardrey Project, which is her way of remembering her son and sharing his memory.

And she has worked with the Vail School District and the Vail School District Foundation to raise awareness and come up with solutions to help educate students in the district.

"Our suicide prevention team came out of that as well, to come together and develop a system of what we do in our district to provide suicide education to students and staff,” says Amanda Cook, the lead counselor in the Vail Unified School District.

Another change that has been made is students have educational elements that start as early as elementary school and lasts through high school.

"All of the students at Cienega High School are trained to look for signs and their friends where they may be considering potentially taking their own life and then sharing that information with a trusted adult," says Kim Middleton, principal at Cienega High School.