Ep. 93 - Scattering CJ's ashes | Hallie Twomey and Ethan Oser

Understand Suicide

When her son CJ took his life at the age of 20, Hallie was numb, confused, and full of guilt. One day, she had an idea: Hallie put out an open call on Facebook asking people to help fulfill her son's wish to see the world by scattering some of his ashes in a place of beauty or special meaning.

Her initiative touched the hearts of tens of thousands of people all over the world. To this day, over one thousand volunteers have taken CJ to over one hundred countries and out of space. While crisscrossing the globe, his ashes and his family’s story have given rise to a social media phenomenon — a worldwide community — that has congregated in solidarity and empathy in dealing with a still heavily stigmatized and misunderstood form of mental illness.

In this interview, you will get to know CJ's story and hear about the overwhelming response Hallie received, which became the documentary “Scattering CJ.” The documentary has just been released on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

If you want to support my channel, buy me a coffee.

https://bit.ly/3whorPH

Watch " Scattering CJ:"

https://www.pbs.org/show/scattering-cj/

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com

Enroll in my course "How to help suicidal people."

https://bit.ly/3klNZ7n

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:”

https://amzn.to/2ANczuR

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Phone: [phone]