Human spirit can be a powerful thing.

Sadly ... no, tragically ... it doesn’t always win.

A year ago around this time, I met up with three women on the Butler-Freeport Trail to do an interview with them about their virtual Pittsburgh Marathon run.

One of the ladies, Crystal Wonderling, was running the marathon to raise awareness for suicide prevention. The other two were running in support of her.

Wonderling’s daughter, Hope, was a member of the Butler High School softball team and was preparing to continue her academic and softball career at Butler County Community College when she took her own life in 2014.

While recalling that tragedy, Crystal said she saw no signs that anything was even troubling her daughter. There was no warning at all.

Such a sad story, I thought to myself. But an isolated one.

Or so I figured.

I figured wrong.

Three former Butler County high school athletes, each serving as leaders on his respective team(s) at his respective school, took their own lives within the past year.

I knew none of the three personally. I will not mention their names here out of respect to their families.

I did follow and wrote about their athletic careers when they were in high school.

All three had outstanding coaches. All three played prominent roles on their teams. All three were on the ground floor of developing positive lives that undoubtedly would have helped others.

All three are gone.

Just like Crystal Wonderling, their families and friends could not possibly have been prepared for the fate those young people opted for.

It’s scary.

It’s senseless.

Just thinking about all of the grief-stricken people left behind is devastating.

I will not pretend to have any kind of idea or theory as to why suicide among young people happens. Obviously, their lives end while they are in an extremely dark and hopeless place mentally.

If the lives of these three young men can end in suicide — when I recall how well-structured and supported their lives were — I can’t help but think anyone’s life can end that way.

All it takes is the means and that dark mental state to occur at the same time.

We all deal with depression in different ways. We can’t allow it to consume us.

A depressed person needs to reach out to someone — a coach, parent, friend, doctor, teacher, help line, anyone — before slipping into that darkness.

OK, maybe this doesn’t qualify as a sports column.

If it helps even one person, I’m so glad I wrote it.

None of us should ever give up on life.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle