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Stories about Child Loss

The author Judy Battista pictured next to her son Daniel.

Bringing Hope to Other Loss Survivors Has Helped Me Heal

In 2008, at the age of 20, Judy Battista’s son Daniel died by suicide. Met with love and support from her community, she was invited to an Out of the Darkness Walk. Later that year, she attended her first International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day (also known as Survivor Day) event and began volunteering for AFSP.

The author, Mary Jean Coleman, with her two sons Tom (left) and his twin brother Ryan (right).

In Tom’s Light: Addressing the Intersection of Opioids and Suicide

Opioid use disorder and suicide prevention are two topics that have immense personal meaning for me. As I wrote in a previous blog for AFSP, my son Tom passed away on Friday, September 30th, 2016, after losing his long battle with depression; he died of a heroin overdose.

Raymond Burke running up a grassy hill to train for AFSP's Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk.

One Foot in Front of the Other: Training for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Overnight Walk in Memory of Our Son

On November 27, 2001, my wife Mary Anne and I were notified that our son Matthew had died by suicide. After months of trying desperately to find our way, we heard about a new event sponsored by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk.