Teen helps others who have lost a parent with SLAP'D
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Two years ago, Dr. Donald Liu, the head of pediatric surgery at the University Of Chicago Medicine's Comer Children's Hospital, drowned in Lake Michigan while trying to save two boys. Now, his daughter helps other teens and young adults who have lost a parent.
"My dad is somebody who had survived a car crash and a plane crash. In many ways, at least in my nave mind, he seemed invincible," Genevieve Liu said.
While vacationing near Lakeside, Michigan, Genevieve's father rushed into the choppy waters to help two boys who were in trouble.
"I remember my dad ripping off his shirt and running out to get them and I actually remember screaming there, telling him not to go out. I don't think he went in thinking he was going to die, but it was obvious these conditions could be fatal. He went out and pushed them back . . . and he was taken by a riptide."
Genevieve was 13 when her father died. She said nothing brought her comfort after his death, and even surrounded by family she felt all alone.
"Pretty quickly during the process, Genevieve realized that one of the best ways to sort of deal with grief is to find purpose. She on her own came to me and said, 'I wanna do something that can help other teens that have gone through what I've gone through," Dana Suskin, Genevieve's mother, said.
They created Slap'd, short for Surviving Life After a Parent Dies. https://www.slapd.com/ is setup especially to support teens and young adults. There, teens can ask each other questions, find articles about loss and create tribute pages in their loved ones' memories.
"Actually one in ten kids in America under 16 will lose a parent, but it feels like a rarity and you feel totally alone. I wanted to create a place where teens can go and realize that that's not really the case and there are other people and other teens in similar situations," Genevieve said.
http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2012/20120805-liu.html
