A woman who fell to her death during her daughter’s graduation shared one last haunting message before committing her final act.
Larissa Brady, 53, of Georgia, was pronounced dead after falling 136 feet from the Ohio Stadium in Columbus at 12:25PM on May 5. She was identified by her fingerprints.
Brady, from Georgia, fell near the stadium’s Bell Tower as graduates filed in for the ceremony.
The commencement continued without mention of the tragedy, but some students and others at the ceremony were visibly shaken after the incident.
The 53-year-old died from multiple blunt force injuries, per an autopsy report obtained by PEOPLE.
According to the summary report, the mom was at the stadium for her daughter’s graduation but had separated from her husband and 12-year-old son before the deadly incident.
It’s been claimed that she reportedly told her daughter “that she loved her and would always be her mother,” after the graduate entered the stadium, according to the autopsy report.
She then climbed over the stadium’s concrete wall near the bell tower and jumped, the coroner’s office said.
Following her death, Ben Johnson, OSU’s spokesperson, issued a statement to the media confirming the tragic event.
“Ohio State is grieving the death of Larissa Brady, a family member of one of our graduates,” Johnson said in a statement, per CBS News. “Our hearts go out to her family and friends during this exceptionally difficult time.”
The university contacted all graduates and staff who volunteered at the ceremony and offered counseling services, Johnson added.
After months of speculation, investigators officially ruled Brady’s death as a suicide.
It’s been reported that the late woman had a history of bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and anxiety, as reported by The New York Post.
Brady’s husband told investigators that his wife had “two prior suicide attempts,” including one from earlier this year, and had stopped taking her medications at the time. Whether the mom went to the ceremony with plans to take her life is unclear.
The mom’s grieving family penned a heartbreaking tribute in her obituary, writing that she “was able to visit most of the country and enjoyed the diversity and natural beauty that nature had to offer”.
“Her hobbies included gardening and landscaping around her home,” they continued. “She loved her family and children with a passion and was extremely protective of them like a mother bear.”
Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this devastating event.
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