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Parents start support group after losing daughter to suicide
(by Tara Figurski, staff writer - September 25, 2012)
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| Brittany Robinson was a 17 years old and a junior at Central Crossing High School. Her parents, Gary and Joy Robinson, started a Survivors of Suicide support group after losing their daughter last year. |
Seventeen-year-old Brittany Robinson had her whole life ahead of her until her world fell apart and she ended her own life.
Her parents, Westside residents Gary and Joy Robinson, are channeling their grief to help others.
The Robinsons started a Survivors of Suicide support group four months ago. They wanted to meet weekly while other support groups only met twice a month.
“We started (the support group) because our daughter took her on life on May 21, 2011,” Gary said.
Brittany was a junior at Central Crossing High School and carried a 3.6 GPA. She worked at Applebee’s on Georgesville Road.
“She was a good daughter,” Gary said. “She never gave us any problems. She was a good worker. When she turned 16 years old she went out and started looking for a job right away.”
Gary said Brittany was their only child and calls her a “wonderful girl, who was very level-headed and sensible.”
“It was a shock to everyone,” Gary said. “She had been going through some problems with her boyfriend and had a lot of stress at school.”
Brittany planned to attend Columbus State Community College for two years and then transfer to The Ohio State University, so she could save her parents money.
“She was our life,” Gary said. “We lived for her.”
Two weeks before she died, Brittany swallowed some pills and was rushed to the emergency room, where she talked to a couple of doctors, nurses and a social worker.
“We thought something like this would never happen again,” Gary said
Joy took Brittany to the family doctor and he prescribed anti-depressant medication.
Brittany was happy one day and sad the next. She was withdrawn, moody, quiet and not eating, losing 15 pounds in three weeks.
“Hindsight is 20/20,” Gary said, adding he now would have gotten her additional help through counseling.
Two weeks later the relationship with her boyfriend ended, said the Robinsons. Brittany spent the evening in her room. Her parents checked-in on her every 15 minutes.
Gary said he went up to her room and asked her to come outside. She promised to join them after her television show was over. Joy went up to her room to check on her and discovered her daughter had hung herself.
“There was a horrifying scream (from my wife),” Gary said. “I ran inside and she was lying on the floor. I immediately started giving her CPR. I was begging God just not to take her, saying ‘Don’t leave me baby.’”
Joy said police officers made them go outside because her bedroom was considered a crime scene. Her husband wondered what they would tell people about Brittany’s death.
“We are going to tell them the truth… that if this can happen to Brittany this can happen to any child,” Joy said. “If it wasn’t for our faith we never would have gotten through this.”
Joy said suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people and the second leading cause of death for college students.
The Survivors of Suicide support group meets at 7 p.m. every Thursday at Columbia Heights Methodist Church, 775 Galloway Road.
If you are depressed or considering suicide and would like to talk to someone, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Your call is confidential.
| Comments (1) |
On September 25, 2012 Ruth said:
I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my father to suicide, my son and my cousins husband shot her then himself. This support group will help a lot of people. |
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