Dylan Sweat

Dylan was a fun loving 14 year old boy from Kansas City. He enjoyed cruising, snorkeling, swimming in the ocean, playing Xbox, drawing anime and liked crystal necklaces. He was always putting others first, all of his friends say he was the one they could talk to. He was raised by his parents and loved spending time with grandma and grandpa. He was the light of their lives. He loved finding ducks on cruise ships and was always looking for them. This is what gave us the idea to do these ducks and share his story and bring attention and awareness to suicide. Teen suicide especially, because we didn’t think that would even be a possibility or something that we would have to deal with. August 8th 2023 we lost Dylan to suicide at just 14 years old. We couldn’t believe it. He always seemed to be happy, he was a quiet and shy kid but seemly happy. Our family is strong and from the outside seemed like the perfect family. Loving and engaged parents that were involved in his life. He had the freedom to do pretty much what ever he wanted because he would earn that right. He made good grades and always had glowing reports from his teachers and anyone that was around him. But there was something deeper that bothered him so much. He was battling a fear of the outside world. High school starting in just 2 days, he was scared of starting out in a new place. The new people he would have to meet. Those were some of the things that made him not want to go on. If you are fighting with depression or you think your kids might be, please get help. Even if they say they are fine, they may not be and will not tell you directly. The loss is something that we cannot convey in words. It’s worse than you could imagine and it can happen to you. Tomorrow is a new day, a new start. Sometimes it is minute by minute others day by day, but good times can happen after bad times. Thank you for reading this Dylan mattered and so do you! You matter Call 988 for help