Former WTSP reporter Lisa Foronda is sharing her story about attempting suicide and her mother’s death by suicide.
In an opinion column in the Tampa Bay Times, Foronda talked about a day 25 years ago when she was covering Tampa Bay’s Independence Day celebration. She expected it to be an easy day until the newsroom called with an urgent message.
“I needed to get to the hospital right away. My mother had overdosed on prescription medication and was in the emergency room. It wasn’t the first time she had tried suicide, and it wouldn’t be the last.”
Foronda continued to say when she was 15 she attempted to end her life.
I injected myself with a full syringe of my diabetic brother’s insulin, lay down on my bed and waited for the end. But, a strange thing happened: A screen opened in my mind and a movie of my life began to play out. I saw in my mind’s eye all the things I’d seen and experienced, and all the people I loved. I realized life was worth living. It wasn’t my time to go, so I told my terrified mother what I’d done, and she took me to the hospital.
While she says she survived and moved on from that night, her mother didn’t. In 2009, she received another call from her brother. Her mother, who suffered from bipolar disorder, ended her life.
Foronda says she ended her TV career because she too spent years battling depression, anxiety and bulimia.
“I ended my career in television news to escape the glaring spotlight. It would take years until I felt strong enough to tell our story,” she said.
Prior to arriving in Tampa, Foronda worked as an anchor-reporter at KHOU in Houston.
You can read her full story here.