By Carlos Gamino
An Ohio dad made the news by breaking terrible news to his son—and he recorded the entire encounter.
Brenden Bickerstaff-Clark told his son that his ex—and the boy’s mother—had died of a heroin overdose. The little boy is just 8 years old, and many critics are calling for Bickerstaff-Clark’s head.
“This video makes me sick. This video was not made out of the goodness of your heart, you did it for a like,” said one commenter.
“Yes, heroin addicts everywhere are perusing Facebook looking for inspiration to get clean. What a sick violation of this child’s privacy,” said another, and another said, “Why would you film it an put it on Facebook?! My mother died of a heroin overdose when I was a kid, and if she had seen this video, she wouldn’t have given a sh** because she was a heroin addict!”
Bickerstaff-Clark is also a heroin addict who has been sober for the past 3 months, and he says that he videotaped the encounter so that “addicts with children can see the seriousnes (sic) of our epidemic.”
“Mommy died last night,” says Bickerstaff-Clark in the video.
“What do you mean, my mom? How?” the child asks, bursting into tears.
“From drugs,” Bickerstaff-Clark tells his son.
Although sharing the post on social media is questionable, at best, he does have support. Some Internet commenters have shared well-wishes and congratulated him, as well.
What Do You Think?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on whether this man was right or wrong for sharing his son’s grief—and making a private moment public—so please chime in and join the conversation on my Facebook page or on Twitter!
Carlos Gamino