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Hometown hero Avah Fiske (left) practices dance moves with her Girl Scout friends Lizzy Sargent and Riley Podraza at their meeting at the Baker Free Library in Bow on Wednesday, December 4, 2025.<\/p>\nAvah Fiske remembers her brother as kind, helpful and caring, but she doesn\u2019t remember him opening up about his struggles with mental health. She was 6 years old when Ryan, 12, died by suicide in 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t have any symptoms or any clues that he was struggling,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause he didn\u2019t talk about it at all \u2026 it caught us by surprise, so I\u2019m really hoping that people talk about their feelings more if they\u2019re ever struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avah, now 11, has spent the better part of this year trying to convey that message to people across New Hampshire.<\/p>\n
Sitting in the basement of the Baker Free Library in Bow, with her Girl Scouts meeting winding up in the background, Avah said she wrote and recorded her own public service announcements for a radio station in the Lakes Region, educating listeners about mental health resources like the 988 lifeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you ever feel like you\u2019re struggling with mental health or something, you can always either call or text it and it\u2019ll pick up immediately and stuff,\u201d Avah said. \u201cIf you feel like you don\u2019t have anyone to talk to, they\u2019re always there to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avah, who lives in Loudon, also made flyers, staffed booths at different fairs and participated in awareness walks for mental health and suicide prevention. Her work won her a Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest possible honor for a Girl Scout in her age group that is typically earned by an entire troop, not an individual member.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people have had similar experiences to me, and they said my work has really helped them cope with all the grief,\u201d Avah said.<\/p>\n
Hometown hero Avah Fiske (left) practices dance moves with her Girl Scout friends Lizzy Sargent and Riley Podraza at their meeting at the Baker Free Library in Bow on Wednesday, December 4, 2025.<\/p>\n
Avah\u2019s mom, Emily Hackett-Fiske, said all her kids handled Ryan\u2019s death differently, but seeing her daughter turn it into something positive reminds her of a phoenix rising from the ashes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor everybody it\u2019s different, right? Nobody walks the same path,\u201d Hackett-Fiske said. \u201cI just feel really blessed that Avah has been able to, at a very young age, take this and make something good out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s just what Avah does, her mom said, and she\u2019s found a way to balance it with the rest of her life. In addition to her advocacy work and Girl Scouts, Avah also does theater, dance, music, lacrosse and other activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s headed down a really good path of being an advocate and knowing when to back off a little bit when she needs her own stuff and to take care of her own things,\u201d Hackett-Fiske said. \u201cShe also very silently keeps an eye on other people that she sees are struggling, who may not be able to say anything to her. She can read that really, really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those skills, her mom believes, came from time at the Kita Center, a summer camp in Maine that supports kids who\u2019ve lost loved ones to suicide. <\/p>\n
Attending has taught Avah and her siblings coping skills. She often uses a technique she came up with herself: Tracing one slender finger around the outline of her hand. A slow breath in as she drags up each finger; a breath out as she goes back toward the center of her palm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the feel of it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt calms me down, and helps with my breathing, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staying busy helps, too. In her avalanche of extracurriculars, Avah takes after her mom, who\u2019s also had a hand in advocacy. After Ryan\u2019s death, Hackett-Fiske helped pass a bill aimed at reducing gun deaths in Vermont. Keeping active helps both of them stay positive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest part of your day is getting your feet on the floor, but as long as you get up and keep moving, and that\u2019s kind of what I\u2019ve showed the kids, is that we kind of just have to keep moving,\u201d Hackett-Fiske said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to like it, but we just kind of have to keep moving, otherwise we\u2019ll get stuck in the mud and never maybe get out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though her Girl Scout bronze award project is complete, Avah has no plans to slow down, hoping to focus her silver and gold award projects on mental health, too.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d like to start her own organization to build awareness with benefit walks and other events that encourage people struggling with their mental health to reach out and ask for help.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you just keep it in, it\u2019s gonna just not help at all,\u201d Avah said, \u201cand it\u2019s gonna make it way worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you need help<\/p>\n