Stories from Families and Professionals

My daughter’s name was Alaina Lainy Sharpe. She was diagnosed in the summer of 2023, and January 31st, 2025 is when she passed away. Lainy was beautiful, smart, caring. She loved music, all girly things, hanging out with her sisters, hanging out with me. She was my best friend.

After the passing of Lainy, it was really hard to navigate a life without her. Even being surrounded by family and friends, I felt like no one really understood besides my husband.

Alaina’s social worker connected me with Zach’s Bridge and I reached out and immediately got a call back. My first initial call when I spoke with Jenn, it felt like talking with a peer. Jenn knew exactly how I was feeling, and then she connected me with Cindy. I’ve found comfort in knowing that they feel a lot of the same ways I feel. She’s really knowledgeable on how grief works. She’s also been willing to connect me with certain books or quotes or certain things that her and I can relate on. I can message her right away if I’m having a really bad day, or even if I’m having a good day and I’m feeling like I want to share a memory or a story about Lainy.

I always recommend Zach’s Bridge for other parents that I’ve come in contact with that are bereaved as well. Having someone to talk to about what I was going through and experiencing has been nothing short of a blessing.

My daughter’s name was Talula Zetta Reicker. She was 12 years old when she passed. She was diagnosed with leukemia in July of 2023 and had an immediate reaction to one of the medicines that landed her in the ICU for about six weeks. After that, she was okay, went into remission, but got very sick and ended up in the ICU again in April of 2024. In May of 2024, she went to palliative care where she ultimately passed.

I felt very alone and hopeless and rudderless. Like everything that I’d worked for my whole life had been taken away. It was ten or so months after she passed that I was connected to Zach’s Bridge via our social worker. I’d gone through a number of therapists and psychologists that were available to me, but none of them really understood what we were going through. They were kind of running a playbook.

It really made all the difference in the world to talk to another bereaved parent who really got it. What I like about talking to my mentor at Zach’s Bridge is he’s not trying to fix me like my therapist does. He’s just a good listener and he really understands what’s going on. Talking to my mentor helps me feel a bit less alone, because I know that other people have gone through this as well — and that’s been tremendously helpful, because this is a very isolating experience, to lose your child.

If you’re anticipating the loss of your child or you’ve already lost your child, I wouldn’t hesitate to engage with Zach’s Bridge. The impact to your life, your work, your relationships, your friendships, and your marriage can’t really be overstated. And it’s scary sometimes to put yourself out there. But you will need more help than you think. And Zach’s Bridge has been incredibly helpful for me.

When my son was sick, I didn’t have any support. I didn’t know anyone else who had a child with brain cancer or cancer in general. Honestly, I felt lost and just overwhelmed, and all I really wanted to do was spend time with my son and just make him happy, because I knew he wasn’t going to survive.

I love the fact that Zach’s Bridge pairs support seekers with mentors. They’re vetted, they’re matched in such a way that they would have the best empathetic connection. I also like that they provide resources that they have actually looked at or know are real, working resources for families.

As a mentor, I think helping others honors my son. This is something he would have loved to have done. It helps me remember him because it brings back the emotions and the feelings. To be able to help someone who’s actively in that intense grief is fulfilling. It’s almost empowering — I get to take this experience that was just devastating and help somebody navigate that same experience.

Zach’s Bridge bridges the gap between the clinical treatment provided by doctors and nurses and the more emotional piece that, personally, I felt so alone and just confused and overwhelmed and obviously devastated navigating. It helps caregivers, parents, and guardians through the worst experience they could ever have by providing information, empathetic support, and one-on-one contact with someone who’s been through the same thing they’re going through. I highly encourage any parent, caregiver, or guardian whose child is very sick with cancer to contact Zach’s Bridge.

I’m Leah’s dad. After my daughter passed, a big part of my journey has been to try and find ways to make meaning out of what happened with her. Being a mentor gives me a sense of purpose, really.

The fact that both of us — my mentee and I — share the history of losing a child means he gets it, he knows that I get it. That’s pretty unique, because it’s very unusual to find support from somebody else who has walked that journey. This gives me a real personal way to be supportive in a way I haven’t been able to find otherwise.

When my daughter was ill, it was a very isolating experience. Family members are great, and I had a lot of support, but having somebody who’s already walked that journey is critical. If there’s an opportunity for you to have support from somebody who already knows and who’s already been through it, I think this is a great thing for folks.

I’m often struck by how much there is clear guidance and support and involvement through a child’s treatment. And then, as soon as the child dies, there’s this incredibly abrupt and hard cutoff from the team that has been providing guidance and support. There are very few resources to connect parents to at the time when they need them as much, if not more, than they needed it throughout their child’s treatment. That lack of resources can often leave parents feeling incredibly isolated at a time when connection and support is vital.

I was so excited to learn about Zach’s Bridge because I had never heard of anything like it before, and it felt like it was filling this unbelievable need that parents have — to connect to other bereaved parents. As a social worker who cares deeply about the families I work with, it’s such a relief to be able to say, “I know a place where you can talk to another parent who’s been through this,” because I’ve never been able to offer that before. The families I have referred have consistently told me how helpful it has been to their healing journey to connect with Zach’s Bridge volunteers.

The one-to-one model that Zach’s Bridge offers is particularly important. In my experience, a support group right after your child dies is often too overwhelming for parents. What they’re looking for is someone to show up for them and to hold space for their grief. What makes Zach’s Bridge unique is also their availability to follow parents at any time in their grief journey, and that there is no time limit on how much support they can offer, and no cost. It is incredibly reassuring to me to know that I can refer a family to Zach’s Bridge and know they’re going to get high-quality, loving, compassionate care and support.

There definitely is a lack of resources for parents, caregivers, and families with a child in the later stages of their cancer treatment and for bereavement. A lot of the resources are virtual or guides and videos, but it is all asynchronous — things parents can look at — but there’s very little peer support and community in that way.

When I first learned about Zach’s Bridge, I realized how special this foundation is, because it provided that resource for these families and a chance for them to be seen, heard, and understood. I have referred a few families to Zach’s Bridge who have really valued the time and just being seen and heard.

As a social worker, I think the biggest barrier to getting resources and referrals is not having a direct contact person and not having someone to follow up with. Zach’s Bridge is extremely personal. The founders are amazing at getting back to me and having direct conversations with me, and having that coordination of care has been really helpful.

When I introduce Zach’s Bridge to parents, I always say: I am here to support you, you have your whole psychosocial team — but nobody understands what you’re going through more than another mom who’s been through this. Having that opportunity is invaluable for these families.