A record-breaking student athlete was found dead in a river shortly after he made a devastating confession on social media.
21-year-old Flordan ‘Flo’ Bazile of Massachusetts was an aspiring athlete and UMass Dartmouth student who set Dartmouth’s 100-meter sprint record.
In his final Instagram post, the young man made a brave revelation as he explained he had been suffering from depression for years.
Shortly after opening up about his struggles in a scheduled post, Bazile went missing. He was days later found in the Acushnet River some seven miles away from his campus where he was last spotted on January 15.
According to the preliminary investigation, it is believed that Flordan took his own life.
“Hey everyone… this was scheduled to post after you know… First things first, I am sorry I am sorry to all my loved ones, my friends, anyone whose life I was in that is affected by this. I’m a hypocrite and a coward for taking the easy way,” the young athlete wrote in his final post.
“The past few years of my life have been tough mentally. This may come off as a big shocker, as anyone that knows me knows I’m the happy, smiley, making everyone in the room laugh type of guys that just seems to never really be down.”
The heartbreaking statement continued: “I just knew as soon as I walk out my door into the world to make sure I look fine and regular as I always do. Sometimes the mask would slip and someone who knows me would see and come up to me but I tried my hardest to make sure that didn’t happen. Mainly because I don’t like people to worry about me or have a thought that I wasn’t okay and would hit me with the ‘are you ok?’
“Which the default answer would be ‘yes’ followed with a laugh after. I had so many loving people around me yet I felt so alone. I am a people’s person that didn’t like myself. I am genuinely just an unhappy person.”
Concluding his post, Flo said he prolonged his life as much as he possibly could before asking his loved ones to try to be happy for him as he was now finally happy and free.
The 21-year-old has since his tragic death been remembered as a champion as well as a hard-working, passionate friend, student, and athlete.
“His coaches and teammates described Flo as hard-working, energetic, a champion, and a great friend,” UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Mark A. Fuller expressed.
Our thoughts remain with Flo’s loved ones during this challenging time.