Syndicated radio host Delilah Rene has announced that her teenaged son, Zachariah, took his life last week after “battling depression for some time.”
The self-proclaimed “Queen of Sappy Love Songs” shared the news on Facebook Saturday, and asked her 1.4 million followers for prayers for her son and “all suffering from this debilitating disease called depression.”
“He was being treated, counseled, and embraced fiercely by family and friends while battling depression for some time now” she wrote. “My heart is broken beyond repair and I can not fathom how to go on ... but I have to believe he is at peace with the Lord and that God will get us through,” she wrote.
“I will be absent from the radio and on social media for a time as I grieve and try to process this loss with my family. ... I’ll look forward to my return, as you all lift me up so very much!”
She updated her Facebook’s cover photo to show the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255, which offers free, 24-hour emotional support for people in distress, as well as resources that provide aid.
This isn’t the first time the beloved radio host has faced tragedy involving one of her children.
The mother of 13, 10 of whom are adopted, lost a son named Sammy due to complications from sickle cell anemia in 2012.
Sammy’s death came just two years after he was adopted from a Ghanaian refugee camp in West Africa, the New York Daily News reported.