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Chad thought the world was better off without him in it. He felt hopeless and thought that people in his life, even his daughter, would have a better life if he no longer existed. He thought about it and rationalized it so much, he believed it was the truth.
“No matter what you say, at that moment, there is no rational thinking. That no amount of reasoning can convince that person that what they are thinking is not rational,” he says. Chad works as a paramedic and sees life and death everyday. On the day he attempted suicide, his fellow paramedics had to come and rescue him. It hit them pretty hard to see Chad in so much pain, but their support and the tightknit bond they have formed help get him through.
Now Chad knows he means so much to his friends and family, and especially to his daughter who he adores watching grow up. “The world had more in store for me. There are countless lives that depend on me in the future.” Chad often has patients who are suicidal themselves. “It is completely different hearing things from someone who knows what they’re going through than someone who doesn’t.”
