One year ago today we spent a terrifying day in the emergency room with my son Josiah, then a freshman in high school.
Devastated by a season ending football injury, fighting a lot of back pain from that, and feeling very sad about it all, he swallowed 40 Benadryl pills, in an attempt to take his life.
It was 10 pm.
He started saying some very weird things that made no sense.
And soon he couldn't talk at all.
Then he fell onto his bed unconscious.
We called 911.
He then had a seizure, his first ever, all due to the overdose of pills.
Obviously, the worst few minutes of my life, waiting for the paramedics.
We had NO clue what was happening at the time.
I suspected he got some type of edible from someone at school, although I would've been shocked by that, because he is a great kid who never has experimented with drugs or alcohol.
It wasn't until we were sitting in the ER, going through his phone, and the doctor asking us questions, that we were able to piece together what had happened. I drove home, at the doctor's request, and found a few small, pink pills in the bathroom trashcan.
We found a text with his then girlfriend.
He said goodbye.
I was devastated that my child had done this.
There were NO signs from him.
That he found this as the answer was heartbreaking.
We spent several days in the hospital as they stabilized him, and evaluated him.
Then doctors put him on a 72 hour mental health hold at a psych hospital in Chino.
Devastating.
Since September is
#suicideawarenessmonth,
#suicideawarensss, he wanted to share his story to help encourage others. I've never shared any of this, because it's not my story to tell, it's his story. But he wanted to share it.
Josiah is doing very well today!
He has grown so much spiritually, and it's clear that God has saved him, and has a plan for his life.
I love Josiah.
I'm proud of Josiah for being vulnerable enough to share his story.
May Josiah's story be used for good.