An eight-year-old girl in the state of Wisconsin is raising money for suicide prevention as she processes her dad's untimely death.
Kyleigh Brunette was just six years old when her father, Jordan Wakefield passed away in 2019. Kyleigh's mom, Brittany Brunette-Thimmesch, sat her daughter down just a few months ago and finally explained how he died.
Brunette-Thimmesch told TODAY Parents that from day one, she was asking her how her dad died? The 30-year-old mom would just say "I don't know,", telling her daughter they have to wait for the police to figure it out. Brunette-Thimmesch added that her child was way too young to comprehend and understand what happened and she did not want her to get feelings of like why wasn't she enough?
Mom consulted therapists before telling Kyleigh about her dad's suicide
Brunette-Thimmesch decided back in March that Kyleigh was finally ready to hear the truth about her dad's death. She said that Kyleigh came home from school upset because some of the children were questioning her about how her dad died. So they crawled into her bed after that and had a very hard conversation about Jordan's death.
She had preemptively consulted with therapists about what to say for when the time came that Kyleigh wanted some answers. She told her daughter that Wakefield had an illness and that even though he did not look sick on the outside, he was really sick.
Kyleigh was stunned to learn that her dad was struggling with depression, according to People Magazine. It was basically the same reaction for Brunette-Thimmesch, who co-parented with Wakefield, the first time she learned about it.
Brunette-Thimmesch recalled her child saying that her dad was always happy and that she made him happy. Kyleigh said she misses everything about him. She misses her dad telling silly jokes and she misses him bringing her to school in the mornings and tucking her in at night.
Kyleigh builds lemonade stand for mental health funds
Brunette-Thimmesch said Jordan adored Kyleigh. Their daughter is an avid soccer player and he was at every single game and Jordan loved her with everything he had. Kyleigh announced earlier this month that she wanted to have a lemonade stand to raise money for charity.
Brunette-Thimmesch suggested the Humane Society to her but Kyleigh had other ideas for where the proceeds should go to. She said that she wanted to donate the funds to someone that needs the kind of help her dad needed.
Kyleigh went on to raise $800 in funds for Mental Health America Lakeshore, a local nonprofit mental health resource center, that has played a large and important role in her family's healing.
Brunette-Thimmesch said people came for lemonade and shared some personal stories about their own struggles. Kyleigh knows firsthand how hard it is to lose a parent to suicide and she said she does not want anyone to feel the pain she feels every day.
