FRISCO, Texas — Graduating high school is a big deal.
"I'm so excited. Oh, I'm so excited," said Lily Allen.
Allen is a senior at Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. In the fall, she's going to The University of Arts in Philadelphia to study dance and choreography.
Four years ago, Lily never thought this day would come.
"High school is already hard, but when people have 24-hour access to you, it's harder," she said.
She faces depression and anxiety and was the victim of bullying freshmen year.
It got to the point where Lily didn't think life was worth living.
"It just turned into, well, I might as well commit suicide," she recalled.
She left a message for her friend saying she was going to end her life.
"I was just apologizing for all the things I had done," she said. "Apologizing to my family, to my brother, to my friends for what I was going to do."
Her friend called the police, which saved Lily's life. Officers showed up at her home in Frisco and opened the door to find Lily alive. Her mom, Lisa Allen, rushed her to Children's Medical Center in Dallas.
"She's my Lily. She means the world to me," her mother said. "At that point, I'll do whatever I need to do. Thank goodness everything is fine. It could have been horrific."
Lily checked into an intensive outpatient program at Children's Health called SPARC, Suicide Prevention and Resilience in Children.
"It was amazing. It did wonders for her, as well as the families," Lisa said.
She learned coping mechanisms. She talked to therapists. She got all the resources she needed. Lily slowly learned that life is worth living.
She recalled the first six months after leaving the hospital as difficult. It took work to get her out of the dark moments in her mind. But Lily now speaks out and dances for mental health.
At school, through a program called "Will Dance For Change,' Lily has raised more than $4,000 for SPARC. She uses dance and art as a way to express herself and bring awareness to teen suicide and mental health.
Her goal is to help other children through suicidal thoughts as she continues to heal herself.
"I haven't thought about self-harming or suicidal thoughts in two to three years," she said. "It's been great."
SPARC was founded in 2014 and has taken in around 1000 patients. Suicide is the second most common cause of death in the United States among children between the ages of 10 to 19. According to a recent study, suicide rates in teen girls sharply increased in comparison to teen boys.
If you are a minor struggling with suicidal thoughts, click here for more information on SPARC.
For parents, here is more information about suicide.