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Hi guys. I thought tonight I'd share a part of myself. This is about a life changing experience that started in 8th grade and ended in 12th grade. Early on in 8th grade I became friends with this nice girl who I'm gonna call Sarah for the purposes of this post.

We started talking more and eventually got to the more personal conversations. Sarah told me one day that she was a cutter and It became addictive to her. So I helped her stop. A week without harming herself became a month and I was proud of the progress she was making. She relapsed a few times and I was patient with her. She also had anorexia.

One time we did a thing where I drew a butterfly on Sarah's wrist and if she cut it would signify "killing" it. One night she said "I killed the butterfly and I was just like "It's okay hun. It happens." She's a kind and caring person and I knew she didn't deserve to feel the way she did. I grew to love her as a friend.

Sarah also unfortunately had suicidal tendencies. When we were freshman she tried to take her own life. Thankfully she wasn't successful. It broke my heart though. I didn't want to tell her how it made me feel so she wouldn't feel guilty about it.

I had someone close I could talk to about it and it helped. I went through about 8 months of feeling down and processed it. I worried that she would kill herself after that. So I told her that I love her as often as I could.

The next school year I went through this transformation. My mental health was better than it's ever been. I felt closer with my loved ones. Anytime I saw Sarah I felt grateful she was still with me. I decided to not let fear of losing her cloud my thoughts. I'd let her know how much she means to me and maybe she'd be fine.

Soon after I talked to her about how much it hurt when I thought I could've lost her. Sarah said she regretted ever trying, and she would never do anything like that again and she didn't. She also said I was important to her because I was the only one who helped her through it. We talk to each other when we need to. I feel comfortable being vulnerable with her because I was in an emotional place.

Going through that made me feel stronger than ever. I got to see her become more happy and blossom. It was amazing. Sarah told me I saved her life that night she tried killing herself. She said I was her Superman and it stuck.

It meant a lot to me but I wasn't so sure that I saved her. Maybe I influenced her not to make an irreversible choice and that's how I've always viewed it. We had this moment where she asked me how I was so strong and I said it was because of her. So most of junior and senior year we were all good. I never took her for granted. I enjoyed each moment I had with her.

In our senior year we made slides basically about who we are and some of the experiences we've had up to that point. It was a requirement to graduate. On Sarah's she had a mentors section and I was in it. I cried pretty much through the rest of her presentation. Of course I loosely mentioned what we've been through together since that was a big part of my life at the time. I left her name out of that part per her request.

We're still close friends to this day and I'm so proud of her. I look at her now and she looks so healthy. Still lean but not malnourished. She used to be super thin. I didn't care about how the situations made me feel. What mattered to me was making sure she was okay. It made me more selfless and resilient. I never thought I could love a non family member as much as I love her. I ended up making a difference, and that means a lot to me.

TylerZIM 5 July 4
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TylerZIM, you did wonderful helping someone take a look at life and fight for it. Good move, be proud. It's not a sacrifice, it helped both of you. Glad she let you know too. One helped me and I learned to help others too. Most don't understand, but I do ask them what they've done in their life, cause you can't beat saving people. When asked "what's the best thing you've done in your life?", you can smile 'cause you saved someone and now she may save others.