A Marine Park mother who lost her son to suicide is urging her neighbors to turn out for a charity walk on Oct. 27 to raise awareness of issues surrounding depression and suicide.
Mary Dwyer’s son Christopher died from suicide last June at the age of 22 after battling severe depression since he was 19, but she aims to bring purpose to her pain by taking part in the “Out of the Darkness” community walk organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on Saturday morning in Marine Park.
“I lost the love of my life. I lost the reason for breathing,” said Dwyer, who hopes that the walk will help other people struggling with depression or whose friends or family have died of suicide, as well as the many veterans struggling with mental illnesses that can lead to despair. “I can’t do anything for my son anymore. He got sick at 19 and I tried everything I could and failed. But I can help some other mother get through this, or other kids who feel alone,” she said.
The grieving mother hopes that the community walk will raise awareness about the risk of suicide, which is a leading cause of death among young people. Dwyer said that one of the biggest obstacles to preventing suicide is the fact that it can happen so unexpectedly, with the victims too often hiding their depression until it’s too late, sometimes living lives that contradict the stereotypes of despair.
“He was captain of the soccer team, had a lot of friends, a beautiful girlfriend, and just loved life so much. How that can just turn like that, I’ll never understand. But there’s never an answer, the issue just needs more awareness,” she said.
The walk will run through Marine Park, where Christopher loved to play soccer and basketball, according to Dwyer.
She organized a team to represent Christopher in the walk and will be joined by her son and Christopher’s older brother, Connor, his father, and other family members, friends, as well as some of Christopher’s former teachers.
Though the walk is to raise awareness about suicide, Dwyer said she wants her son to be remembered for being a loving and caring person.
“His pure heart, his loyalty, and his ability to make everybody laugh. He was always a very kind soul, too good for this earth,” she said.
You can donate to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Christopher’s name at: https://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=1772018
Online registration for the event at afsp.donordrive.com closes at noon on Oct. 26, but anyone who would like to participate can register in person before the walk starts.
The “Out of the Darkness” walk will meet at the Fillmore Avenue side of the park near the flagpole at the Carmine Carro Community Center. There will be a small ceremony at 9 am, and the walk will begin at 10 am.
