Losing Lambert:

A Journey Through
Survival & Hope

A WQED Documentary

Winner of 3 Emmy Awards in 2010 from the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for Outstanding Health Program, Community Service and Writing

Winner of the 2010 national Gabriel Award for Outstanding News/Informational Program

Winner of the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania's 2010 Golden Quill Award for Best Television Writing

Winner of the 2011 Media and Mental Health Award from the Entertainment Industries Council for accurate reporting of behavioral health issues.

Honored by Mental Health America of Westmoreland County with a 2012 Innovations Award in the Recovery category.

American Public Television is proud to make this WQED documentary available to public television stations nationwide.

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"Losing Lambert" Synopsis

"What did I do wrong? How did I cause this? Why couldn't I see his pain?"

Those were just some of the haunting questions for Kathy O'Hern Fowler when she lost her teenage son, Lambert Hillman, to suicide in 1995. Kathy spent years struggling with loss and grief, but would eventually move into a life-altering role as an advocate for other parents who tragically find themselves in the same position.

Left: Kathy and son Lambert; Right: Lambert Hillman, age 16

Kathy and hundreds of others have found help through organizations like "Survivors of Suicide," a support group run by Sue Wesner at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic of UPMC. It was Sue who coached Kathy and many others through their darkest hours. This program takes viewers to a survivors meeting, where local parents speak bravely and boldly about the loss of their children - all in an effort to eliminate the stigma of suicide, while helping others.

The documentary's final segment focuses on hope for future teenagers and their families. At UPMC, doctors are conducting the first known brain imaging of teens and adolescents who have attempted, or considered suicide. Their preliminary findings are impressive, and those involved hope their efforts will someday lead to better identification and treatment for teenagers at risk.

Losing Lambert: A Journey Through Survival & Hope is brought to you by OnQ's Emmy Award winning team of writer/producer David Solomon and photographer/editor Paul Ruggieri, with narration by Michael Bartley.

Our sincere thanks to the parents who shared their stories and photos of sons and daughters lost to suicide.

Right:
UPMC Teen Suicide Brain Imaging Study

Related Links:

OnQ Close-up: Teen Suicide
Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic of UPMC
Survivors of Suicide
SPRITES (Survivors Partnership for Research Information Truth and Education on Suicide)
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness)
Good Grief Center
STAR-Center (Services for Teens at Risk)
The Compassionate Friends, Pittsburgh Chapter
CONTACT Pittsburgh
Suicide Prevention Resource Center
Mental Health America
Pennsylvania Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative