It was a day like any other. Englyn, our 14-year-old daughter, was goofing around with her mom, Brandy, taking selfies . We kissed her goodnight and went to bed.
But the next morning, our universe changed when we discovered she had taken her own life . There are no words to express the utter grief and devastation we felt – and still feel four years on. Englyn was beautiful and kind.
She was the baby of the family, the heart, and the centre of attention. We had no idea how this could have happened. Englyn had displayed no outward signs or symptoms of depression .
If anything, it was the opposite. Our daughter was a vibrant young girl who loved dancing and dreamed of opening her own studio. PAPYRUS Prevention for Young Suicide For practical, confidential suicide prevention help and advice please contact PAPYRUS HOPELINEUK on 0800 068 4141, text 07860 039967 or email pat@papyrus-uk.
org We had access to her phone and didn’t find answers there either. Then, one night when we couldn’t sleep, we saw coverage of how Frances Haugen, The Facebook Whistleblower , went public with information about how social media platforms were targeting teenagers. It sounded devastatingly familiar and made us wonder what might be hidden in Englyn’s phone.
So we went back and began scouring her social media accounts. We found massive amounts of self-harm themed content and posts on Instagram. This discovery brought us to our knees.
We are not experts on social media, but since Englyn’s death,.