If she knew 51/2 years ago what she knows now, she might have prevented her 18-year-old son from committing suicide, says Pua Kaninau-Santos, of Kaunakakai.

“;Suicide is very preventable, but you just take it one day at a time,”; she said in an interview. “;For those in crisis, you have to minimize the risk, stabilize them and ask the question, 'Are you thinking of suicide?' There's a whole laundry list of warning signs, but you have to ask the question. I didn't.”;

For the first three months after her son, Kaniela, a Kalani High School senior, died on April 5, 2003, Kaninau-Santos said she was “;in that very frozen shock trauma stage.”; Then she told herself, “;I'm a mom. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know it was about suicide.”;

She determined to find out everything she could about it, then try to do something about it, and she hasn't stopped.

Her husband died of cancer two years after their son, and she enrolled at the University of Hawaii, earning a master's degree in social work because she “;wanted to make a big impact on those like my son, in crisis on the edge of life.”;

She continued to do suicide prevention work for the state Health Department and the Suicide Prevention Action Network. She founded the Hawaii Suicide Prevention, Education, Awareness, Research Foundation and received a SPAN USA award earlier this year as an “;unsung hero”; working to prevent suicides.

She moved to Molokai 11/2 years ago and works for Queen Liliuokalani Trust. She is also a trainer for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training with the Health Department.

Dan Galanis, a state epidemiologist, says suicides are the leading cause of injury deaths in Hawaii, with an average of 120 a year from 2003 to 2007.

He will present a report with co-authors Iwalani Else and Dr. Dan Alicata on Friday at the Pacific Beach Hotel on “;Hope, Help & Healing: Tools for Suicide Prevention & Intervention.”;

Hawaii's suicide statistics are about the same for the past two years, with one suicide every three days, Galanis said.

A decrease was noted in the number of suicides over six years, but undetermined fatal injuries - possible suicides - increased, he said.

Kaninau-Santos is among an estimated 700 “;gatekeepers”; trained in key agencies to recognize and respond to youths at risk for suicide.

Galanis said the gatekeeper approach is effective but that the program must be used on a larger scale to reduce suicides and suicide attempts.

Kaninau-Santos calls suicide “;a silent issue,”; adding, “;Part of what we're (trainers) doing is breaking down those barriers. It's OK to talk about suicide.”;

Her son died five days after his 18th birthday and two months before his graduation, which he had looked forward to, she said. But his grades had been plummeting, and he had insomnia, was using alcohol and may have had a relationship breakup - a major cause of teen suicides, she said.

“;There were all the warning signs, big time,”; she said.

A family session was held to talk about what was going on, but he said he was OK and wanted to go out with friends before graduation, she said.

Then his closest friend from kindergarten called to say he had disappeared, she said.

Her son's body was found in a Kailua parking lot, she said, declining to say how he died because of a policy of not telling others about ways to commit suicide.

Since deciding to attack the problem and try to help others, Kaninau-Santos said, “;I feel like I'm a warrior and I put on my armor and I'm marching in the war against suicide.”;