Community grief over the death of former San Diego Chargers player Junior Seau

Reports of the death of former San Diego Chargers football star, Junior Seau, has sparked a community outpouring of grief, mourning and many unanswered questions. Under any circumstances, the loss of this hometown hero would be tragic, but with news surfacing that Seau died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the chest, police have reported the case being investigated as a suicide, although police found no suicide note. For those close to Seau, or for those actively grieving the loss of a loved one, situations like this can bring up a myriad of feelings and reflections on “why”.

“Junior Seau’s untimely death may reverberate in our community as we all grieve this loss,” notes grief expert Noreen Carrington, LMFT, FT, Executive Director of The Center for Grief Care and Education at San Diego Hospice. “It also provides us the opportunity to examine how we come together to share our grief and help those who are suffering.”

Community grief is expressed in a variety of ways, and sharing our thoughts and feelings in healthy productive dialogue can help us find ways to support those with mental health struggles. Also, Seau’s death can trigger individual grief from our personal losses.

The Center for Grief Care and Education is here to help as our community works it way through its grief. They have weekly, open support groups as well as groups geared towards specific audiences, including No Time for Goodbye, which focuses specifically on individuals who lost a loved one due to a sudden death, such as suicide.

For information on this specialty support group, and other specialty and open groups, contact us at griefinfo@sdhospice.org, call 619-278-6480 or visit: http://www.sdhospice.org/support-groups .

About San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine
San Diego Hospice and The Institute for Palliative Medicine is one of the largest community-owned, not-for-profit hospices in the country, bringing compassionate, expert medical care to more than 1,000 seriously ill adults and children each day throughout San Diego County.  For more information, visit www.sdhospice.org or call toll-free 866-688-1600. Join our online communities on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and The Caregiver’s Corner blog.
 
 
 

Contact Information

Melissa DelaCalzada

Director of Communications and Community Relations

San Diego Hospice

(1) (619) 278-6139

mdelacalzada@sdhospice.org