The mother of Georgia Tech football recruit Bryce Gowdy is mourning the death of her son, posting up a Facebook Live video detailing what led to his suicide, including family homelessness and emotional distraughtness. The heartbreaking details are inside…
The mother of Bryce Gowdy - a standout wide receiver and defensive back for the Deerfield Beach High School Bucks who was headed to Georgia Tech on a full football scholarship – has confirmed her son committed suicide after it was reported he was fatally stuck by a freight train.
Around 4AM on December 30th in his hometown of Deerfield Beach, the 17-year-old was killed by an oncoming freight train. It’s now being revealed Bryce – who had a promising future – took his own life a week before he was set to start GA Tech as a freshman.
According to CNN, the Broward County Medical Examiner's office ruled the manner of death as suicide, listing the cause as blunt force injuries.
His mother, Shibbon Winelle, took to Facebook Live to share the moments that led up to his untimely and unfortunate death.
In an 11-minute video, Bryce’s mom – who also has two younger sons – opened up about how Bryce started “talking crazy” after learning they had become homeless “again.”
“A few days ago, Bryce was talking crazy,” she said in the Facebook Live recording. “He kept talking about the signs and the symbols that he was seeing all over the place. And that, he could see the world for what it really was. He kept saying he could see people for who they really are,” she explained while sobbing.
”He was happy though. He was talking about his future. He was talking about going to Georgia Tech and we were having a lot of spiritual conversations … he had a lot of questions. He had a lot of questions about spirituality and life. He kept asking me if I was OK and if his brothers were going to be OK and I kept telling him yeah.”
The mother-of-three said she was having a hard time dealing with being homeless and wondering how she would provide for her three children on top of Bryce’s irregular behavior at the time. She later said she had "begged for help for months."
”All day. We sat in the car all day yesterday because we didn’t have anywhere else to go. And he sat next to me all day, just talking. And I was stressed out. I was too stressed to really deal with it. I kept telling him I had just started my period and we were on the streets again. Homeless. The little job I got wasn’t paying me all my money on time or in full and I was so stressed out about taking care of my kids,” she wept.
Around 10pm, she finally was able to get them a hotel room, but they were waiting for her other son to get off of work.
“And I told him, I said Bryce, you have to dig within and fight these demons that you’re fighting.’ I told him I wasn’t strong enough to help him right now. That I had my own demons I was trying to fight. He was stressing me out so much that I started getting chest pains.
When we got to the hotel, she said her two eldest sons went up to the room while she stayed in the car to decompress “because Bryce just kept going, going, going.”
"Bryce came back downstairs and sat with him and I started telling him that he needed to get it together and toughen up. Get his mind right. He tried to hold my hand and I told him no because he had me SO upset. So anxious. I told him I can’t deal with that energy right now baby. I wouldn’t let him grab my hand, I wouldn’t let him hold my hand because his energy was so intense. I could feel the pain in his soul and it was breaking my heart.”
The mother-of-three said they went back upstairs to the hotel room and one of her son’s were already sleeping. She said Bryce kept checking on her asking if she would be OK and she told him yeah, she just needed to calm down. Thirty minutes later, she came out the bathroom and she asked Bryce to go downstairs to get her favorite blanket because it was cold in the hotel room.
After twenty minutes, she didn’t see him, so she went to the car. She went downstairs and checked the car and the blanket was gone, so she knew he went to the car, but she couldn’t find him. She went back to the room and saw he left his phone, wallet and his shoes. She sat there for about twenty minutes thinking he would come back, but “he still didn’t show up.”
She got her other son to start looking for him and she said she felt something in her soul, “I just started balling crying.” She said she knew in her heart her son wasn’t OK.
”He talked to his dad yesterday and that’s when it got worse. It got worse after he talked to his dad. Before he talked to his dad, he was just talking for a few days… just talking in circles, about life, about the things that we were going through as a family over the last couple of months being homeless. About the things he had to see me go through because we were homeless. After he talked to his dad, he started getting paranoid. He started talking about not being trapped by doors and mirrors.
The morning he disappeared, she texted his dad, “I wish you would just disappear from our lives forever. At that moment, I knew something was wrong with my baby.”
She said she woke up at 7AM the next day after crying herself to sleep around 4 AM. Still no sign of Bryce, she started contacting family and friends to see if they had heard from him. She spoke with her brother and she told him there was a report that someone got hit by a train at 4 in the morning and she said in her heart she knew it was her son. She said she went to the hospital and she couldn’t stop crying because she knew it was her baby.
Finally, the nurse walked up to her and handed her the number of a police detective. They identified the body and it was her son.
”My baby walked in front of a train and killed himself!,” she screamed. “I’ve been begging for help for months. For months I’ve been begging for help,” she sobbed.
Then, the streaming ended. So heartbreaking.
Watch below:
People have been setting up fake GoFundMe accounts since Bryce's death. His mother has been posting the official account on her Facebook page:
People have been reacting to the suicide news on Twitter, expressing how you NEVER know what someone is going through:
PLEASE read the story. Poverty plays a big part in this story. So, when you say these kids should just be happy with some freakin free books and classes, Just know, you’re CLUELESS about their real lives https://t.co/tCbpWJc4OO
— FOST (@GeorgeFoster72) January 1, 2020
This Bryce Gowdy situation is a prime example of no matter how good someone's life may appear, internally it could be a nightmare. If you need help, please don't be afraid to talk to someone. Your life is far more precious than you'll ever know.
— Jay (@The2ndBrown) December 31, 2019
This story wracks me with grief. It is nearly impossible to find assistance for young people in mental health crisis. The last quarter of 2019 my nephew threatened to end his life and we had no recourse or resources to help. We deserve a better system. https://t.co/muicDkkeJx
— Poor But Privileged (@luvthispayne) January 1, 2020
So much about this story is heartbreaking and shows how evil capitalism is. // https://t.co/Bbu1k5iDya
— RISE UP WORKING CLASS (@AFlyBlackCommie) January 1, 2020
Bryce Gowdy is NOT an anomaly. We have to do better as a country when it comes to mental health & especially our children.
— The Ms T (@6OnTheWay) January 1, 2020
If you, or anyone you know, is struggling with anything, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) to speak with a trained crisis counselor. Prayers up for Bryce's family and friends during this tragic time.
Photo: Bryce's IG
source: theybf
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam id libero non erat fermentum varius eget at elit. Suspendisse vel mattis diam. Ut sed dui in lectus hendrerit interdum nec ac neque. Praesent a metus eget augue lacinia accumsan ullamcorper sit amet tellus.
0 comments:
Post a Comment