A family hopes that their terrible tragedy will inspire others to seek help.
“A lot of what we experienced was a lack of support, a lack of knowledge of how to handle this,” Andrea Thomas, “T,” and Ayonna’s mother stated.
In September, we met T. WRTV’s Amber Grigley, who recounted her nine-year experience with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Their time together that day led to a broader discussion regarding T’s twin sister, Ayonna.
Her mental health led to the lockdown of the inpatient hospital she was in. Thomas explained that he received a call from someone associated with the facility, asking him to come there immediately. “They let us know that Ayanna had chosen to be free.”
Ayonna committed suicide in April 2021 when she was 13 years old.
“She had been fighting and battling for years. “Her earliest episodes began when she was nine years old,” Thomas explained.
Thomas stated that Ayonna received an initial diagnosis of anxiety and depression, but further assessments led to the diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Thomas informed us that many mental health professionals do not provide diagnoses beyond the age of 13. “We tried a variety of things, but there was nothing we could do to keep her out of an outpatient facility.”
“Although she was sick, she tried to hold that back because she was a good person,” T told me.
T admitted to having difficulty embracing the loss of her twin.
“I can’t imagine what it’s like to look exactly like someone, have the same DNA as someone, and grow up so closely related to this person, but then they started experiencing things that make them a different person,” Thomas told me.
T praises her “big” sister Maggie Pollard and Big Brothers Big Sisters for saving her life.
“With mental health, I believe it’s a lot simpler to brush it off and say, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK, it’s OK,’ until it’s not. And going through everything with T and Ayonna has made me such a strong advocate for seeking treatment,” Pollard said.
T stated that, while she is currently dealing with depression as a result of her twin’s death, she wants to inspire people to seek help and resources in order to save lives.
“There is no stop sign for grief, meaning you can’t stop it or make it slow down,” T told me.
Thomas stated that since Ayonna’s death, she has founded The Yonna Foundation for mental health awareness and support.