He lost both his parents before his eighth birthday, but Lachlan’s story is one of hope for his future.
Trigger warning: This article deals with suicide and may be triggering for some readers.
Lachlan De Vries has already experienced more pain and suffering than most boys his age. By the time he was 8-years-old he had already lost both his mum and dad to suicide.
His father, John Ockwell, took his own life when Lachlan was just two-years-old. The 21-year-old suffered from depression – and sadly, it was depression that also overcame Lachlan’s mother Richelle Turpin just five years later.
Richelle took her own life in early March 2014 at the young age of 26. Richelle left behind not only little Lachlan, but also her fiance Jeremy De Vries, 29.
But now, almost one year on, his late mother’s fiance has taken Lachlan into his care and has plans to adopt the orphaned boy who has stolen his heart.
More: What if we could eliminate suicide? Entirely.
Although Jeremy was a tremendous help for the struggling single mum, Richelle’s best friend Elise Weller says she doesn’t think the 26-year-old ever fully recovered from Lachlan’s father’s suicide.
“She found John at their family home at the time, and I don’t think she ever moved on with it. I think the grief hit her later on down the track,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
“I think she carried a lot of guilt with her.”
Richelle was diagnosed with PTSD in 2012, around the same time she met Jeremy.
Despite her silent suffering, Elise also described Richelle as “the life of the party, very bubbly, infectious smile, infectious to be around”. This is the side of the young mum that is obvious in all her photographs – especially those with her son and fiance.
Jeremy and Lachlan bonded early on in the couple’s relationship, and it wasn’t long before Lachlan referred to Jeremy as “Dad”.
Jeremy says he felt a strong connection to Lachlan right away.
“I took that commitment on very early on, me and him had a bond. The first time we met he held my hand and he started calling me dad and sometimes I forget he’s not mine,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Jeremy also spoke about Richelle’s internal struggles and the battle she faced behind closed doors.
“She was the love of my life and the thing I loved about her was how happy and positive and bubbly she was. But I lived with her and knew the ins and outs and I remember at her funeral that 99 per cent of the people there would not have known she had depression because of the stigma,” he said.
The couple had planned all along that Jeremy would adopt Lachlan (they had already changed Lachlan’s surname in preparation for their December 2014 wedding) – a plan that Jeremy is intent to follow through on.
The 29-year-old is now in the process of adopting Lachlan, with the blessing of Richelle’s family and friends.
“There were never any questions regarding who would raise Lachlan – it would always be Jeremy, who took on this commitment without any hesitation. To Jeremy, Lachlan is his son and to Lachlan, Jeremy is his father,” Elise wrote.
Despite what may seem like a happy ending to a tragic event, Jeremy, Elise and many of Richelle’s closest family and friends have stressed the need for more mental health education and awareness so that signs can be detected early on and conditions properly diagnosed.
“We need to recognise it early, get the diagnosis and help and get rid of the stigma because there is a stigma. It’s just a taboo subject, no-one talks about it,” Elise said.
“More needs to be done because suicide is the biggest killer.”
Elise has started a crowdfunding project for Lachlan’s future so that he can have all the support he needs for his life with Jeremy. You can read more about Lachlan’s story or donate here.
If this post brings up issues for you, or you just need someone to talk to, please call Lifeline on 131 114. You can also visit the Lifeline website here and the Beyond Blue website here.
Top Comments
What a sad story and what a wonderful man Jeremy is hopefully their future is bright. I don't think anyone understands depression unless you have personally walked in those shoes. We had a very close friend commit suicide last year. Father of two beautiful girls, the most infectiously funny, beautiful person so when the phone call came to tell us it was so surreal and unbelieveable and apart from sadness my first emotion was anger that he could do this to his daughters but knowimg what he was like there is no way he would have wanted to leave his girls and not ever see them grow up, protect them from boys wanting to hold their hands in school, walk them down the isle and hold their babies but he must have felt so low down and bogged that suicide was his only option. Stigma is out there because there are people who just want to shut the conversation down with words like selfish!! Maybe these sorts of people in certain peoples lives are one of the reasons why depressed people feel its the only way. They may feel like they cant talk to people and you might be the ear that listens, the shoulder that holds and the arms that hug someone until they can see that there are many other options. Start the conversation don't shut it down!!!!!
Poor little buddy, he is so lucky he has a wonderful man in his life to step up to fill that hole 💙