it's what you want to know
To the Tredyffrin kids who ride his school bus each day, he’s their polite and punctual bus driver. Notable, perhaps, for his Hungarian accent and nothing more.
Ah, but looks can deceive.
Beneath his spotless polo shirt and chipper demeanor, Andras Szekely is, in fact, struggling to survive. He leads a life of carefully hidden homelessness, made bearable only by his art, his far-off family, and his hope for a better tomorrow.
Until now, Andras has kept his living situation secret.
On Sept. 7, three days after her sons started the new school year at Radnor Elementary, Heidi Diskin ended her life.
She was 44.
We share this with you because Heidi would want us to.
“One hundred percent, she would want her story told,” said her husband, J.D., in a phone interview. “My hope is that what happened to Heidi can be a teachable moment. As terrible as this situation is, it’s an even worse tragedy if it doesn’t help others.”
To family and close friends, Heidi’s suicide was a sucker punch – a heart-wrenching coda to 20 years of pain.
To those less close, it seemed, well, inexplicable.
Because Heidi had made mental health advocacy and suicide prevention her life’s work. She’d started a brain health foundation, she’d spoken to countless groups, she’d even hosted a cable TV show about mental health. How could Heidi Diskin – of all people – have succumbed herself?
