Family of veteran who jumped from Georgetown bridge raises awareness around PTSD and suicide
GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — The family of the veteran who jumped from a Georgetown County bridge and died, is speaking out to raise awareness around veteran PTSD and suicide.
Officials say on July 14, 37-year-old Shawn Lauver of Bolivia, North Carolina was involved in a car wreck, told a witness he was drunk and not going to jail and jumped.
We told you last week, the Georgetown VFW Post reached out to News13 to help the family create a memorial in Shawn Lauver’s honor. The family agreed and wants to continue the conversation of what many veterans experience.
“Never did I think I would be one of those parents telling my story today, but it needs to be told,” Eveanne Lauver, Shawn’s mom said.
Eveanne says her son enlisted in the Army right out of high school. He deployed twice to Iraq and Afghanistan and worked as a helicopter aviation technician.
She says he was medically discharged, in-part because of his struggles with PTSD and saw signs of it months before he passed. But she says many veterans struggle with a certain stigma.
“It’s ‘be that soldier, be that strong soldier,” Eveanne said. “Don’t let anybody defeat you.”
She says her family had Shawn involuntarily committed but after 72 hours, a judge signed his release.
She thinks it’s unacceptable because the types of things soldiers see and hear is traumatizing.
She told me while serving, her husband was in charge of a convoy and suddenly an IED went off.
“He had his best friend, blown off from the waist down, trying to get up with his elbows,” Eveanne said. “He died in my husband’s arms. This is the thing that they have to live with.”
She says just one conversation or being around other veterans, can change someone’s mind. Eveanne says check in on your loved ones and never forget, PTSD is real.
“If I save one soldier out of this interview, it was so well worth it,” Eveanne said. “But I don’t want to just save one. I want to save all of them.”
Eveanne says Shawn has given her the strength to help others in need and that will be her mission going forward.
The Georgetown VFW Post told News13 it still plans to work with the city to create some kind of memorial.
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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here.
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