Fargo Davies teen who died by suicide inspires mental health film festival

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

Photo special to On the Minds of Moms

FARGO — By most accounts, Liam Medd was a sports guy. His parents can pull out photo after photo of their son grinning from ear to ear in a baseball, soccer or football uniform.

Three years after his death, Liam's legacy — including his love of sports — is inspiring students in arts and theater to make a difference.

4-6-3 Foundation, created in Liam's honor and run by his parents, is encouraging budding filmmakers to "step up to the plate" and is hosting a film festival to bring awareness to mental illness and help prevent suicide.

“Shine the Light: The Midwest Mental Health Film Festival" begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2, at the Fargo Theatre. Roughly 10 films — from North Dakota State University, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Fargo South High School and Davies High School — will be shown, according to organizers.

Liam was just 15 years old when he died by suicide on Feb. 1, 2021. That evening after dinner, his parents, Todd and Elizabeth Medd, had gone out to run a quick errand. Liam and his younger sister, Selma, were eating ice cream when they left.

"We left the house on Monday night for an hour and came home to a different reality," Todd told WDAY-TV at the time.

The Medds said there were no warning signs. Liam was active and popular — a straight-A student, voracious reader, athlete and Boy Scout.

Contributed/Medd family

“Of all the things we worried about for Liam, declining mental health and suicide weren’t even on our radar,” Elizabeth said in an interview with The Forum in 2022.

“If it can happen to Liam, it can happen to anyone. There were no red flags. You always look back and wonder if you missed something, and that goes back to that 'what if' conversation,” Todd added.

Shortly after Liam’s death, the Medd family established the 4-6-3 Foundation in his honor. The name was inspired because Liam was a second baseman. A 4-6-3 is a double play in which the second baseman throws to the shortstop for the force out and the shortstop throws to the first baseman to get the batter out. The numbers in the play refer to the defensive positions.

Contributed/4-6-3 Foundation

“With Liam being the second baseman and that being a double play, it’s like he’s fielded the ball and tossed it to us to continue spreading his light and joy, with our main goal being to reduce stigma, build hope, and end suicide,” Elizabeth said.

For the past couple years, the 4-6-3 Foundation has held events around the area to help erase the stigma around mental health and help other families avoid the nightmare that they had endured.

The foundation sponsored the Liam Medd Memorial Baseball Tournament and through memorial donations in Liam’s name, helped fund the new artificial turf for the Davies High football team.

WDAY-TV

Now, the 4-6-3 Foundation is spreading the word about suicide prevention through a new medium: film.

The competition, presented by Tellwell Story Co. & Studio, is divided into two categories: High School and College/Young Adult.

Submitted films will premiere in a public screening at the Fargo Theatre and receive scores for their use of script, performance, camera, sound, editing, and theme. Select films will be awarded a cash prize of up to $1,000.

“Our goal with this festival is to normalize conversations around mental health and suicide in a creative way,” said Elizabeth, who serves as the executive director of the 4-6-3 Foundation. “We want to equip young people with the tools and resources to reduce stigma, build hope, and end suicide.”

WDAY-TV

According to mental health professionals, it comes at an important time.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24 in North Dakota and the second leading cause nationwide.

"We are seeing kids in crisis, and that crisis is not going to last forever, so that feeling is not final. We have to get that message to these kids," Fargo-Cass Public Health Mental Health Coordinator Melissa Markegard told WDAY during the tournament in 2022.

Contributed/4-6-3 Foundation

For the past two years, the festival has been hosted by Fargo-based nonprofit FirstLink under the title “Silence Speaks Aloud.” The 4-6-3 Foundation hopes to continue to build on FirstLink’s success and reach an even broader audience with the festival.

“Any young person is welcome to participate,” Elizabeth said. “You don’t have to have any experience with film. All you need is a camera and a desire to make a difference.”

More information can be found at 463foundation.org/film-festival . Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite .