An orphaned boy in New Hampshire took his own life just one week after his 13th birthday when he “couldn’t handle” the relentless bullying he faced at school, his distraught family said.
Josiah Michael Dwinell, 13, jumped off a bridge in Alstead, New Hampshire on March 12 — just eight days after his birthday, his aunt Shaena Lyon confirmed on Facebook.
Josiah’s mother, Amber, passed away unexpectedly in 2021, according to her obituary.
Amber changed her Facebook profile picture to an emblem for “overdose awareness” in 2020. Her cause of death isn’t immediately clear.
Josiah was taken in by his grandmother, who was doing all she could to combat his bullies, according to Lyon.
It’s unclear if Josiah was placed with his five siblings.
Lyon claimed that Josiah was hospitalized numerous times and tried to seek help, but was told by others that “he was seeking attention.”
“He was being bullied at school and on the bus not one person outside his home tried to help him,” she wrote.
Lyon said that Josiah seemingly “decided after a bus ride home that he couldn’t handle the bullying anymore,” eventually pushing him to leap off a high bridge over a river.
She noted that Josiah never learned how to swim.
“He was an amazing brother, son, nephew, and all-around young man who meant so much to everyone who knew him. Josiah brought light and joy to our lives, and his absence leaves a hole in our hearts that can never be filled,” Lyon wrote on a GoFundMe for Josiah’s funeral.
The fundraiser easily cleared its original $6,500 goal and was creeping towards $24,000 as of Sunday evening.
Many of Josiah’s family members, including cousins he had never met, changed their social media profile pictures to the teal and purple suicide awareness ribbon.