“I lost my soulmate and my children lost their hero—their Daddy,” the 40-year-old widow told PEOPLE one week after the tragedy. “We had a fairytale life and now it has turned into some sick Shakespearean tragedy. How do I move on? How do I pick up my shattered soul?”
But she now aims to redirect her pain to help others who are silently suffering from depression behind the mask of a happy face, making her life mission to “rise by lifting others.”
“May God Bless us all and help us turn to one another when we are in pain,” said Talinda in a public statement. “Chester would’ve wanted us to do so. Rest In Peace, my love.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with a mental illness, please know you are not alone. Suicide is completely preventable. There is hope. PLEASE reach out if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, or fear that someone you love might be.
If you need support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or text “START” to 741-741.
