MANSFIELD — I sat with Jeff Heck on Saturday morning inside Richland Carrousel Park discussing the 33 Forever Walk that was about to take place in downtown Mansfield.
He was telling me about his step-daughter, 33-year-old Danielle Leedy, a Lexington graduate who lost a long battle to chronic depression in February of 2019.
Around us a crowd of between 150 and 200 people were registering for the 5th annual walk to raise awareness and funding for the Mansfield-area non-profit organization.
As ominous clouds rolled in, I pointed to the sky and asked Jeff if there was a Plan B?
“Nah,” he said, filled with faith. “Dani will take care of the weather for us.”
She did.
Less than 20 minutes later, the skies parted and a glowing sun hovered over the event. It stayed there for the next two hours as walkers traversed the 2-mile path over the downtown sidewalks.
“Dani will take care of the weather for us.”
Jeff Heck, Co-Founder of 33 forever
This was not an event I planned to cover, let alone join. In fact, I was the fourth option.
But a series of Saturday-morning scenarios unfolded that forced us to go to Plan D, me. There were three other Richland Source staffers there, too, but I was already in attendance and frankly had something in my craw. I’ll get to that in a minute.
Meanwhile, I listened as Jeff described what had become his wife Donna and their family’s passion, the organization created to honor his stepdaughter.
The website states: “33 Forever, Inc., was founded by the family and friends of Danielle Leedy, a vibrant, strong, professional young woman, who lost a long battle to chronic depression in February of 2019.
“It is a non-profit organization created to both honor Dani’s life and her long-time passion to raise awareness, empower and comfort those struggling with depression, anxiety, finding self-worth and suicidal thoughts.”
There were more than a dozen organizations in attendance. Each touted their various mental-health services.
In addition, a new facility named Dani’s Place will open in Toledo this fall thanks to the efforts of 33 Forever and numerous other organizations around the state. The 18,000 square-foot, $11 million, 16-bed facility will offer various rehabilitation services for those battling mental health issues.
“If you have a broken leg, or a shoulder operation, you still have to go through rehab,” Heck explained. “That’s what this facility will do. When someone leaves the hospital, this is a place they can go. There’s only one other like it in Ohio — and that’s in Athens.
“We’re hoping this will be a model for other facilities to start popping up throughout the state.”
When the time came to start walking, I found myself moving toward the start/finish line. At first I was just snapping photos, but then I joined the event.
You see, our family too was touched by a similar tragedy in October of 2011.
I was in the wedding party for this young man’s parents. His father was in mine.
I was there for that little boy’s first steps, and at the hospital on that 21-year-old’s final day.
I can’t speak to what happened or why. But I can speak to the awful void the death of Travis left behind. The promise of what could have and should have been but was never realized is almost too vivid to revisit — and it’s been nearly 14 years since it happened.
So I joined the walkers on Saturday morning, completely unplanned. I walked and thought, a lot, about Travis, about that awful sequence of events, and about the impact it’s had on his family and friends.
Virtually everyone walking with me could tell a similar story. There were at least three different groups of walkers with matching T-shirts dedicated to someone else just like Dani and Travis.
There wasn’t a lot of conversation. It wasn’t a cheerful nor a morose scene, just a chance to sort out our thoughts and memories on a sunny May day.
I also thought about Kevin Hines and the story he told here in 2022. Kevin jumped from the Golden Gate bridge, but survived his suicide attempt to tell the audience, “The millisecond I let go, I knew it was the wrong thing.”
During the walk I also recalled Travis was a Dean’s List student beginning his fourth year in the Kent State engineering program when his life was suddenly cut short. He was fit, good-looking, somewhat shy, and full of potential. And then he was gone.
I wore a wristband dedicated to him for nearly a decade, before it finally gave way to age and wear.
Then I wondered if Dani had control of the weather, maybe Travis was pulling his own sort of strings. If so, he would want me to echo Dani’s family mission. Simply put it’s this:
If you or someone you know is in trouble, if you or they need help, please seek help or strongly encourage it. Because it’s here. Services are available that are designed to be helpful. There are numerous organizations locally and across the state geared to this all-too-prevalent ailment.
Also, you’re not alone. Others have been where you are, and a number of them want to help, too.
I admire Dani’s family. They took unspeakable tragedy and are trying to create something constructive from it.
May they succeed in this endeavor.
