In 2018, Donovan Joshua Leigh Metayer survived one of the most deadly school shootings in our nation’s history. Now, seven years later, his family is in mourning, announcing on social media that the 26-year-old has died. Metayer’s sister, Nancy Metayer Bowen, shared the news that her brother died by suicide on Dec. 15, after a nearly decade-long battle with schizophrenia.
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“Thank you for the immense love and support our family has received from community in the days since Donovan’s passing,” she wrote in a Dec. 21 Facebook post. “As I continue to navigate my grief, I am not in a space to carry conversations at this time, but please know your kindness has not gone unnoticed.”
Donovan was a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a gunman opened fire on the campus, killing 17 students and staff members on Feb. 14, 2018. His family says that although he survived the shooting, the aftermath took a painful toll on his well-being, adding that the young man who was once full of life became increasingly withdrawn after the tragedy and suffered from “depression, guilt, emotional instability, and long periods of isolation.”
Although he went through years of treatment, including therapy and medication, Metayer’s family says the road to recovery was difficult, due to the cultural and systemic barriers to quality mental health care that exist for Black men.
“Donny often masked his pain to not burden those he loved, even as our family fought alongside him. Finding care through limited resources, systemic barriers, and the realities of navigating mental health crises as a young Black man made his path all the more steep,” the family wrote on a GoFundMe page established to help cover his final expenses.
The family plans to honor Metayer’s life by creating a mental health fund in his name. The fund is intended to provide critical access to services and support for people living with mental health issues and their families throughout Florida. They have asked for donations to the fund in lieu of flowers.
“Though Donny’s life was brief, his impact will be everlasting,” his family wrote.
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