Testimonials

Chat excerpts

“yeah….just,this world seems too messed up to bother to keep living in,i feel as if the world i was once born in doesnt exist anymore. im just an insignificant spec in this world and will my going away really do anything? just another dead teen”

 

“i don’t want the holidays to come… my cousin is coming here and he hurts me”

 

“its funny…cuz so many peopel think i have a perfect life and dont understand why i injure…now when i have finally realized things and im trying to stop…it gives me more reason…well maybe not reason…but makes me want to anyway”

 

Jesse’s Story

At the age of 15, Jessie* had been through enough pain to last a lifetime.  When he logged on to YouthInBC.com and chatted with a volunteer for the first time, the pain had become overwhelming.

Two weeks earlier, Jessie’s best friend had died by suicide.  Jessie was devastated, not only because he had lost the person he was closest to in the world, but because the two boys had been very much in love.

Jessie lived with his mother and her boyfriend.  He had never told his family he was gay, but with the death of his first love, the true nature of the boys’ relationship had become apparent.

Jessie opened up to the YouthInBC volunteer, and chatted about how his home life had become unbearable.  Not only was he dealing with an immense amount of grief, but the abuse he had been enduring from his mother and her boyfriend had taken on a new level of viciousness.

Since finding out her son had been in love with another boy, Jessie’s mother was assaulting him daily with verbal blows.  She told him how ashamed she was of him, and forbade him to tell anyone else of the relationship between him and his best friend.

Jessie’s mom’s boyfriend didn’t bother wasting time with verbal assaults.  He showed Jessie what he thought by using his fists. This had become a daily occurrence, and Jessie was desperate to get away.

Jessie chatted regularly with volunteers on YouthInBC.com over the period of approximately one week.  During this time, he shared his feelings of loss as well as his plans for suicide, which he saw as the only option.

Through the support of volunteers, Jessie slowly gained the confidence to seek out other means of help. He contacted a local support group for gay teens.  He sent an email to a counsellor whose area of expertise was grief.  Jessie was reaching out for help and fighting to keep himself alive.

The last time Jessie logged on to YouthInBC.com, he wanted to update volunteers about his situation.  Suffering from newly broken ribs, he decided it was time to call the police about his mother’s boyfriend.  The authorities had come to his home and arrested the boyfriend and they had taken Jessie to a temporary foster home where he could be safe until other arrangements were made.

Jessie’s words to the volunteer that night were “I just wanted to say thank you for not giving up on me.”  Thanks to the dedication and support he was given by YouthInBC volunteers, Jessie was able to get out of a potentially deadly situation and take the steps towards a safer future.

* For confidentiality reasons, some details such as name and age have edited to respect the privacy of the caller.