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A spirit that is not afraid

Backpacks without owners raise suicide awareness on the Green Space

Among the many backpacks rested those of three Auburn students — Justin Weimer, Thomas Osborne and Clark Kelley

Backpacks rested against the plush grass of the Green Space. There were hundreds. The sky was clear and blue above, the air crisp but comfortable, a perfect day.

Against the backpacks rested pages of laminated biographies. Their cloud settled over the area, invisible and unsettling.

College students. Eyes that would never light up again. Smiles that would never again be shared. Degrees that would never be earned.

Some had graduated. Others were still pursuing their educations, their futures cut short after they took their own lives.

Among the many backpacks rested those of three Auburn students, Justin Weimer, Thomas Osborne and Clark Kelley.

Kelley, an engineering student at Auburn, who loved the St. Louis Cardinals and the Auburn Tigers, left the Auburn Family on Aug. 5, 2017. He was active in his youth group at church as well.

In the almost 46-minute-long video made after his death, you can see Kelley as a newborn, a young child, a young adult and in photos with friends and family. He appeared happy, living a normal life as a child, teenager and adult. 

There are photos of Kelley attending games, taking family photos, posing with superheroes and living a "normal" life.

“Despite his polished public appearance, Clark struggled mightily with mental illness, which caused his ultimate demise,” read Kelley's biography that rested against his backpack. “Mental health problems, and the debilitating issues that accompany them, are often misunderstood.”

Active Minds, an organization dedicated to raising suicide awareness for college students, filled the Green Space with hundreds of other backpacks like Kelley's on April 2, 2018. They aimed to remember students who will never laugh again, never pursue their dreams.

The backpacks without their owners were placed as part of a suicide awareness and prevention campaign called Send Silence Packing, said Courtney Burke, one of the organizers.

“Over a thousand backpacks representing the amount of hallowed student lives who died by suicide each year," Burke said.

Several of the backpacks were those the student’s themselves owned and even contained personal items. Kelley’s backpack was sitting in between a larger collection of backpacks that spelled A and U.

“There’s always help, and sometimes it’s difficult to find the right thing that helps, but treatment is effective whether that’s medication, therapy or combination of both,” Alexia Ruiz said, another one of those on the Green Space raising awareness. “There’s always a solution, we just have to keep trying.”

On a bright orange and white laminated page was a biography of Osborne, an Auburn senior who left his friends and family in April 2015.

“He suffered in silence, and forever our hearts will ache knowing the debilitating loneliness and pain he carried alone,” Osborne’s biography read. “He was a very spiritual person with a great sense of humor. He was bright and compassionate. We miss him very much, and his loss has scarred us deeply.”

The campaign has been active since 2008, Ruiz said.

“Never miss the opportunity to hug, hold and tell your loved ones and friends how much you care,” Osborne’s biography said. “Be active in their emotional and mental welfare even when there are no visible signs.”


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