A grieving Lambton County mother is trying to turn her heartbreak into inspiration.
Three months after losing her son to suicide, Teresa Ingles is starting the Deker Bauer Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
As she deals with her loss, one key word keeps rolling through her mind: Why.
"You have no answers to why? You keep asking yourself, ‘Why? Why did this happen? Why did it have to be him? Did something happen to bring this on?’"
While her son Deker, who was 17 when he died, battled mental illness, there were no sudden signs to answer her questions.
Ingles says he was a giving and caring boy, who aspired to be an actor.
Nobody, including his mother, could put all of the pieces together as to why he took his life. But on the day before he ended his life, Deker had started giving things away, including a favourite skate board. He even placed a hat at the site where a friend had died in a tragic accident just a few months prior.
Then he left for Petrolia, his hometown.
"And he gave me a hug and kiss, just like he does every time he walked out the door,” Ingles said.
And the next day, the tragedy hit.
But now Deker’s family is honouring him.
They’ve started the Deker Bauer Foundation to help others in crisis.
They eventually hope a residential home will be opened.
“This is something that is so needed, not just in our community, but in every community. Somewhere for someone to go, that is safe. They can come in and talk," Ingles said.
"He was always helping people and that's why we want him to still do that. And why it's called the Deker Bauer Foundation,” Ingles says.
She says Deker always took pride in what she did.
“He had me on a pedestal. He was always talking about how great his mom was and how proud he was of his mom and her accomplishments."
