Father using pain of daughter's death to help other grieving families
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Burying a child is a pain no parent should have to endure. One father knows the heartache all too well.
After losing his young daughter in an accident involving a 4-wheeler, Cecil Hicks was broken, but he took that darkness and turned it into light for other families trying to make it through.
"She was the first love of my life," Hicks told SX. "She was the first person I ever fell in love with. She was my first true love and it never changed."
It hasn't been easy, but Hicks has been able to use his heartbreak to change other lives. He's working to comfort and support other parents who've gone through an unthinkable loss. It's been a bit more than two years since Hicks lost his daughter Morgan.
"Morgan was the life of the party," he said. "Morgan saw no wrong in anyone. Always smiling, always laughing; it was always a positive in everything."
Saying goodbye is something he never planned for. Through the process, his family discovered the cost of a funeral could be a major blow for an already grieving family.
“It’s very surreal to know a tragedy and our pain will become a positive,” Hicks said.
In an effort to help others, his family has created the Morgan Breanna Hicks Foundation.
The nonprofit provides comfort and support for parents through the bereavement process, providing not only emotional assistance but financial help as well. Hicks told WSYX that the effort is a way to help families going through so much and keep his daughter's name alive.
"I know God blessed me and he had a plan for me and it was her," he said. "I needed people to know her story, our story, and why it's so important for us to help other parents."
