Miranda found a purpose supporting people with suicide ideation
Garrett and Miranda gave birth to their first child in 2018, and two weeks later, Garrett died by suicide. The Center for Disease Control in 2017 reported that approximately 47,000 people died by suicide, which was more than twice the amount killed by homicides, and suicide was the second leading cause of death among individuals between ages 10-34-year-old in the United States.
How can the families of the victims of suicide heal through this tragedy, and memorialize their loved ones when suicide is considered a societal stigma?
Miranda Briggs is approximately 5-foot 7-inches tall, brunette hair, and brown eyes. She currently lives in Georgia, raising her daughter without Garrett.
As she recalls the initial moments of her husband's passing, her memory of the tragedy was as clear as the tears that formed in her eyes as she spoke.
"I was a Firefighter at the time of my husband passing, and he did take his life at our home, so I was the first responder to his death," said Miranda.
At that precise moment, Miranda applied what she called "Call Mode" to cope with the deep pain that forever altered her life.
"I snapped into call mode, which is part of First responders' training to prevent us from being emotional so that we can think clearly," said Briggs. "It really took me a long time to process it, I think is the right word. Getting closure, I don't think really happens for the families of the fallen."
In known cases of suicide, victims wrote a letter, called someone or post on Social Media their intent. Miranda said, she searched Garrett’s pockets and all through the house looking for a note or letter from him, but there was none.
Instead, Garrett made two phone calls before taking his life one was to his friend and mentor Rick Murillo.
The reason I think Garrett called me was to help him out, that was it, that's all I can think of," said Murillo. "People told me the reason he called you was because he respected you, he wanted you to be one of the last persons’ he talked to, and I still can't grasp that concept."
Murillo and Briggs did not know each other when they served in the Military; they meet a year before Briggs died. Briggs was experiencing suicide ideations and reached out for help, Murillo got a call that Briggs needed suicide intervention counseling, then Murillo and a team of Army Ranger buddies showed up at Briggs' door to help the young Ranger recover.
The day he died, "I wish he had stayed on the phone; when I tried to call him back there was no answer, nothing, then Mirada sent me a message and told me he shot himself in his truck. So, you know that hurts a lot," Murillo said in a choppy soft-monotone voice.
Military veterans have a 24-hours a day 7-days a week crisis line for Veterans or Service Members. They can call 1 (800) 273-8255 if they need someone to talk to in confidence regardless if they're suffering from chronic pain, anxiety, depression, anger, sleeplessness, PTSD from deployments, or just other reasons not mentioned.
Garrett struggled with a number of physical injuries related to combat deployments as well as poor healthcare which caused him to relapse, he struggled to the end, said Miranda.
The confusion after a sudden tragic loss and new baby to care for was too much for any young woman to bear . Miranda began misusing alcohol to deal with her sorrow and pain, which she said, she never had an issue with before her husband’s death.
It took friends intervening asking what's going on, you need to start talking about this, said the young widow.
“I made the decision to address it, and I reached out and got help. I made the decision to really start talking about Garret, not just the day he lost his life, but the years leading up to it and how that transition impacted our entire family and always will and will," said Miranda.
On Aug 22, 2020, a group of Veterans joined Murillo humanitarian project by repairing and redesigned Garrett's truck and presented it to Miranda.
Miranda volunteers with "Fight The War Within Foundation" speaking to the public on suicide prevention and the negative societal effects it has on families.
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