Monica Lewinsky Heartbroken After Bullied Teen Commits Suicide
Image by Getty
By Thea Glassman August 17, 2016
Monica Lewinsky took to Twitter to express her condolences after bullied 13-year-old Daniel Fitzpatrick hung himself in Staten Island last week.
“Heartbroken to see yet another story like this. RIP Daniel; condolences to his family. We need to listen + care more.” she posted on Monday.
? to see yet another story like this. RIP daniel; condolences to his family. we need to listen + care more. https://t.co/LJ8JM58xNh
— Monica Lewinsky (@MonicaLewinsky) August 15, 2016
Fitzpatrick left a devastating note before hanging himself with a belt, writing that he was bullied by a group of students at Holy Angels Catholic Academy, while teachers turned a blind eye.
“I wanted to get out I begged and pleaded,” he wrote.
Daniel Fitzpatrick Image by GoFundMe
Lewinsky also tweeted out a GoFundMe page to help financially assist the teen’s family with a memorial service. The page has since exceeded it’s fundraising goal by a landslide, raising $124,658 of an original $10,000 ask. The Fitzpatrick family later penned an appreciative note to supporters, adding that they will be donating a portion of the money to an anti-bullying organization that promote suicide awareness.
Lewinksy is an ardent fighter against bullying, speaking out against online shaming at a Ted Talk last March.
“Millions of people, often anonymously, can stab you with their words, and that’s a lot of pain, and there are no perimeters around how many people can publicly observe you and put you in a public stockade.” she said. “There is a very personal price to public humiliation, and the growth of the Internet has jacked up that price.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
