Donovan Joshua Leigh Metayer, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida that left 17 dead, has died at age 26, according to his family.
Metayer’s sister, Nancy Metayer Bowen, wrote in a Facebook post that her brother died by suicide on Dec. 15 after suffering from schizophrenia for seven years, per People.
Metayer, who worked at an Office Depot in Coral Springs, Florida, was a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, when the gunman carried out a mass shooting that shook the nation.
His family shared on a GoFundMe page that Metayer "carried unimaginable sorrow" and faced mental health issues in the years following the shooting.
The fundraiser was set up by the family to offset funeral costs and benefit the Henderson Clinic, a behavioral health organization. By Monday (Dec. 22), over 800 donors had contributed more than $41,000.
"The loss of our family's youngest child is a sorrow beyond words—one that will echo through our lives, forever," Metameyer’s family wrote. “Yet even in our grief, we are choosing to speak Donovan's truth, so that other families do not have to suffer in silence the way we have.”
The family described his struggles with mental health and multiple hospitalizations for suicidal ideation as he grappled with accepting a diagnosis.
"Donny often masked his pain to not burden those he loved, even as our family fought alongside him," his family wrote. "Finding care through limited resources, systemic barriers, and the realities of navigating mental health crises as a young Black man made his path all the more steep."
The family said despite recent progress and stability, a court-ordered risk protection order that prevented him from purchasing a firearm lapsed this month, and Metameyer was able to purchase a handgun that he used to end his life.
"Donny’s passing is a heartbreaking reminder of the mental health crisis plaguing our youth and the lasting trauma of gun violence on our community," the family wrote. "As we grieve his loss, we are breaking the code of silence in his memory. Though Donny’s life was brief, his impact will be everlasting."
For more information about suicide prevention or to speak with someone confidentially, call or text with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or speak with the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.