NAMI Louisville: Mourning the Loss of a Son

  “My stepson, (Brad Gibbons) suffered a traumatic brain injury last week as the result of a fall from an interior stairwell of a parking garage. It is unknown if the fall was accidental or intentional – something we will likely never know. He was never conscious after the fall and suspect the last days of his life were without pain. His parents made the decision to not attempt any further surgery. His injuries were so extensive that the surgeons expected he would not be able to live without a feeding tube or breathing machine should he survive the surgery. The hospital asked his parents if they would consider organ donation which they very much wanted to do. Upon checking the registry, they learned their son had registered for organ donation in 2011. Significant to them, he made this decision prior to his onset of mental illness. Brad was kept alive until Saturday upon which he was able to donate both of his kidneys. One went to a person in Baltimore and the other to a person in Alabama.   

During Brad’s college years, he endured a psychotic break and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Like autism, mental illness has a broad spectrum of severity and symptoms. During the last 10+ years, Brad had many ups and downs but mostly plain struggles – had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and struggled with addiction. His family had tried everything they could to support him without enabling his addiction. In the last 6 months, he lost his subsidized apartment and was homeless. He had been in and out of hospitals/rehab centers more than a dozen times. His parents turned to our legal system to legally require him to commit to a long-term addiction rehabilitation program. 

“ During all of his mental struggles, Brad was of legal age. In our medical system, this means he had the right to refuse to let his parents, siblings, or loved ones know of any diagnosis, treatment, prescribed medication regimen, recommended therapy, anything. The medical community expected him to have the mental means to direct his healthcare all the while diagnosing him with acute psychosis. For Brad, psychosis meant a world where he believed he had been tasked with literally saving humanity by figuring out “The Pattern”. The Pattern was a metaphysical theory to connect the dots of the universe. Further, doing meth he believed enabled him “magic” powers by which to understand the various levels of the Pattern and unlock the mysteries to save humanity. So, this was a young man who went from Eagle Scout and valedictorian of DuPont Manual High School to a homeless, mentally ill addict in a 10-year time span. 

I write all of this to share the struggle of mental illness and addiction. Know that if you have family or friends with similar struggles – you are not alone. Know that the struggles are difficult, agonizing, sometimes with no clear direction toward recovery or stable living. Thank you all for reading and thank you for your prayers.”