On January 9th, 2013, Luke, just twelve years old and in seventh grade, was home from school recovering from the flu. Like his siblings, he missed five days of school due to being sick. That day, he was in his room resting and catching up on his homework. His father checked in with him to make sure he was okay or if he needed any help with his homework. Luke’s last words were, “No Dad, I’m fine.”
Less than 30 minutes later, his brother was calling 911 while his father was helping Luke until the EMT arrived. Luke made it to the hospital and lived an additional 24 hours. We had hope that he would pull through but his heart failed and his life ended on January 10th, 2013.
To say we were devastated by his death would be an understatement. At the time, we believed that Luke never showed what we know of as “usual signs” of anxiety, depression, or someone at risk of harming himself. However, there were signs that we did not understand. In the weeks before his death, he said two times that he wanted to die when he was struggling to finish all his homework but never spoke of suicide to his friends, family, or classmates. Because he was a perfectionist, we believe he put added pressure on himself to excel in school which caused his anxiety to increase.
As we planned his funeral and the months following, we believed he must have been trying a prank or somehow harmed himself while goofing around. We did not understand how this could happen? After an investigation at his school, reports from his peers, and even looking at his electronic devices, there was no evidence that Luke was being bullied and felt isolated. We believe he acted impulsively without understanding the consequences of his actions.
Our family was shattered by the loss of our firstborn son. There are no words to express our never-ending sadness because Luke is not here with us today. Our hopes and dreams have been altered forever. It has taken us years and a lot of hard work to put our lives back together and choose to celebrate the way Luke lived, not focus on the way he died. In Luke’s honor, and in memory of all youth lost to suicide, we share our journey and work diligently through The Luke Foundation and Project Give Light to prevent youth suicide through education, awareness, and kindness campaigns.