Statistically, New Year’s Day is often associated with an increased suicide risk. My cousin’s father, Christopher Coleman, waited until the following day- January 2nd, 2023- to attempt to take his life.

It was a blessing that his attempt failed. Blessing is not the best wording but it’s the only one I can think to use.

It’s a blessing that he’s still here with us but we are not naive to the reality of this situation. We know he and his family are living with the difficulty of the unknown— the unknown medically, financially, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

 We can’t control any of this but I know this is one way we can show support in their time of need to help them ease some of that financial pressure, stress, and anxiety.

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 On Monday at 6:28pm, I received a text from my cousin Kelsey Coleman Jones that said “my dad shot himself” followed by photos of blood soaked sheets and walls.

I called her to ask if he was still alive & at that time, the family had no idea. He was taken to The Med and the family was given no more information than “we will let you know.” Eventually they were told he was alive but things were not good at all. His wife Stephanie and daughter Kelsey were allowed to briefly see him. He was somewhat responsive.

Stephanie and Kelsey are beside themselves in shock, disbelief, and brokenness.

 Originally told the bullet was still in his head and could not be taken out but since then he has had a major brain surgery to remove the bullet although some fragments are left.

 He had a tracheotomy and feeding tube surgery… Due to the extreme jaw and mouth wounds, it is believed that the trach and feeding tube will be permanent.

Just when things were starting to look up, the family was told all bones inside the face were completely shattered. No nose bones, no jaw, and his tongue was so torn and some gone that he won’t be able to use it. They can try to rebuild all of his facial bones but this will be a minimum of 9 long, hard months in the hospital.

Today he is having surgery to connect his inner eyelids to his nose to help give him more strength to open his eyes to find out if he is blind or not. The part of brain that is damaged can severely affect personality and it is possible that he may be a totally different person than we all knew. This is a long painful road and process. He has lost tons of blood and had to have several transfusions along the way.

Right now, it’s our hope that he isn’t blind. We do not know his quality of life at this moment but we do know he can respond with hand gestures and is aware of the situation… which is both a blessing and completely heartbreaking.

 We don’t know the beginning, middle, or ending with this situation. We only know that their family is devastated and that there will be meals needed, travel needed, medical intervention inside their home eventually, and so many prayers needed! Please help financially if you can during this difficult, traumatizing time.