A Cape Breton mother who lost her son to suicide and then faced her own suicide battle is sharing her story in the hopes of saving someone else’s life.
For years, Fran Morrison has been speaking out to try and help others affected by suicide, all while needing help herself.
Morrison lost her 21-year-old son, Eric, eight years ago. She says she finally reached her breaking point last September.
“After he died I felt suicidal, but every time I got to a certain point, images of my girls came in front of me and I said, ‘No, I can’t do that to them.’ This time was so different. It just happened.”
Morrison says she was also going through a separation from her husband of 32 years, and the fear of starting her life all over again at age 65 was just too much.
Eight months ago she attempted suicide, but survived the attempt.
“A friend of mine from Halifax came down and he asked me what did. I told him and he looked at me and said, ‘Fran, you should be dead. You shouldn’t be here.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know, but I am.’ I said my time wasn’t up.”
Morrison says she was never the same after her son’s death and was always searching for answers as to why.
Now, she says her own brush with death has changed everything.
“That’s when I started thinking of Eric and I thought, oh, I know exactly how he felt. I know exactly where my son was the morning he did it. He just couldn’t do it anymore. He didn’t have the strength or the energy to do it anymore.”
Morrison says she is finally finding closure in her son’s death, after coming so close to her own, and is sharing her story because she thinks it can benefit someone facing the same struggles.
“I cry now because I miss him, not because I’m grieving,” she says. “I’m not grieving his death anymore because I get it and I accept it.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kyle Moore
