Mother forms the Chase Haley Project after son's suicide death

LANCASTER − Sarah Haley knows all about the tragedy of suicide.

Her 21-year-old son Chase died in September 2022 when he jumped from Mount Pleasant. Thereafter Haley started the Chase Haley Project to offer education about suicide and support to those who need it, along with suicide prevention. The project is under the Fairfield County Foundation umbrella and is a non-profit organization.

Haley, a city fire department employee, said there were no warning signs before son's death.

"We had really deep connections with Chase," she said. "It was abundantly clear that if it could happen to us and could happen to anybody. The Chase Haley Project is going to form this community of support for anybody that is having a rough day. Anytime we have an event or something, it doesn't have to be sad. Nobody has to talk about suicide. You have the resources available in case you need that."

Haley said her son was a unique person.

"He was super caring," she said. "All he ever wanted to do was to help others. He had pursued his psychology degree at Ohio University Athens because that's what he thought he was called to do."

Haley said she and her husband spent the next year grieving over the loss of their only child and trying to figure out what to do next.

"We were prepared to be empty nesters," she said. "But not to this extreme. So we needed to do something to honor him, to carry on what he had hoped to do for others. I noticed that during that year where I was the lowest I'd ever been in my entire life, there wasn't a lot of resources available for me. There are great organizations here in town like the Fairfield County Suicide Coalition. But the resources they provided to me, it wasn't what I needed."

That led her to believe others must feel the same way, which is why she started the project.

"Nobody wants to talk about suicide because it's still so taboo," Haley said. "That's how it was when I was growing up. So I needed to change the way things were being viewed. There isn't grief support for somebody like me. It put me in some dark space. And realizing there isn't somebody just there when you need them when you're in a moment of crisis. I feel like we can do better."

Visit www.thechasehaleyproject.com or the group's Facebook, TikTok or Instagram page for more information about the Chase Haley Project.

jbarron@gannett.com

740-681-4340

Twitter/X: @JeffDBarron

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Sarah Haley forms the Chase Haley Project after son's suicide death