Tragedies often fade away over a certain period of time, until another disaster sadly takes their place. But for the survivors, the pain will never disappear. On Saturday night, a sophomore at the Florida high school where 17 people were killed in a mass shooting last year took his own life, according to Coral Springs police. It was the second suicide in a span of one week involving a student survivor at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. A week prior, a former student who lost her best friend in the massacre took her own life and one day following her funeral, this male student, who is still unnamed, killed himself. “Now is the time for the Florida legislature to help,” said Jared Moskowitz, Florida’s emergency management director and a former state representative from Parkland. “Mental health is a bipartisan issue,” he posted to Twitter. Officers in the nearby area responded this past Saturday night to the suicide scene of a minor, Officer Tyler Reik confirmed the death on Sunday and said it is still under investigation. Ryan Petty, who lost his daughter Alaina during the shooting on February 14, 2018, said the child who took his life was s a 17-year-old boy. Mr. Petty acknowledged the death on Twitter saying “17 + 2” with an emoji of a broken heart. “What we feared could happen is happening,” he later said in an interview. In his late daughter’s memory, he created a foundation last May which raised awareness on suicide prevention, according to The New York Times. A recent graduate named Sydney Aiello, 19, took her own life last weekend, as reported by her mother Cara Aiello. Ms. Aeillo told the local CBS news station that her daughter had received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and that she also suffered from survivor’s guilt after the shooting, in which one of her best friends, Meadow Pollack, had died. News of Sydney’s death spread quickly and sparked grief once again in the Parkland community. Her passing had drawn tens of thousands of dollars to a web page for donations for the young woman’s funeral and memorial service. But more importantly, it started a discussion about preventing suicide by offering long-term resources to students and all young people who have had to deal with trauma and loss. March 23 marked the anniversary of the March For Our Lives rally against gun violence. I think we all remember the powerful march that many of Parkland’s passionate students organized following the aftermath of the shooting to speak out about gun violence. Public officials met on Sunday to discuss a plan to assist children and families following the suicides. In the meantime, the community has identified several locations to offer therapeutic services. “It’s important that the community knows right now how to triage this – to make sure they’re checking in with their kids, checking in with their family members,” said Mayor Christine Hunschofosky. “It’s important, if people have firearms at home, that they’re locked up and secured, so no one who shouldn’t have access to them is able to gain access to them.” Dr. Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University has developed a list of questions that anyone can ask to identify people who may be at risk of suicide. She explains that suicide is preventable but it requires ending the stigma surrounding depression and other mental illness, not waiting for people who are hurt to speak out on their own. “They don’t necessarily have the will to come and ask for help,” Dr. Posner said. “We should be asking these questions the way we monitor blood pressure.” The high school brought in counselors and therapy dogs for Stoneman Douglas students immediately after the shooting last year. At the start of the 2018-2019 school year last fall, the school district also opened a “resiliency center” at a park, with counselors and support groups for suffering families. That center is open this week, even though the school is now on spring break. The community has come together, as we all have seen from TV broadcasts, political rallies and documentaries, however, it is still facing an extremely turbulent time. Public officials are being held accountable for missing the signals displayed by the gunman prior to the attack, who is still awaiting a trial for capital murder. Just last week, the school district placed the principal of the school under investigation, as well as school board members and even the school’s superintendent, Robert W. Runcie, had to fight to keep his job. “There’s a lot of good going on in our community. But we cannot ignore what else is happening,” said Mayor Hunschofsky. The emotional trauma these students and family members have faced will last for decades. Columbine High and Newton’s Sandy Hook massacre are all, unfortunately, lead examples of how survivors fight to overcome their attacks. Newton also set up a resiliency center shortly after the shooting as a place for therapy and for people to gather to talk. “There’s mixed feelings throughout the town,” Stephanie Clinque, the center’s executive director, said. “Grief is complicated. It’s very sad for the family, the children, the entire community. We’re letting people know it’s ok to have those feelings.” A Columbine High massacre survivor Heather Martin was not physically injured but said it took several years to overcome the shooting. She helped with the Rebels Project which was named after Columbine’s mascot, which assisted mass trauma survivors. “Resilience is connecting with other people and gaining strength from other people,” Martin said. “You don’t always have to be the strongest person.” *If you are having thoughts of suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255*
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Parkland Community Grieves Again After Two Student Suicides
