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Stories about Child Loss

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.