Giving Back After Getting a Second Chance 

At only seven years old, Luke Weeks felt “different.” Though he didn’t yet have all the words to explain it, the emotions he experienced were very real. 

“I felt like there was something wrong with me,” Luke said. “I had a lot of friends, I did well in school, and I had a good relationship with my parents. But I felt different, and I didn’t know what to do about it.”

Luke said these feelings scared him as a child. “I didn’t know what to do, or who to turn to.” As he grew up, the feelings didn’t leave or lessen. “I kept it all to myself because I was afraid of what people would think, or that they’d judge, or assign thoughts to me that weren’t my own.”

At 17, Luke lacked the resources to manage these feelings or the ability to make them disappear. Instead of driving to high school one Monday morning, Luke got in his car and drove it into a bridge. 

“I woke up to a man knocking on my window, telling me I needed to get out of the car,” Luke said. He obeyed, crawling over broken glass and debris to escape his totaled vehicle. “Once we were about 50 feet away, I looked back and my car was up in flames.” 

It wasn’t until he overheard first responders asking where the body was that Luke realized the incredible odds of his survival. When a paramedic handed him a phone, Luke made the call that changed his life. 

“I called my mom and said, ‘Mama, I tried to end my life.’ When I heard her start crying, I knew something had to change,” Luke said. “For my mom, my family, my friends, for everyone who’d been cheering me on all those years, I had to change.” 

Now, he is single-minded in his mission to help others struggling with depression or suicidal ideation. Luke is studying psychology at UCO, works part-time at a local psychiatry clinic, and serves as a mental health technician at the same center where he initially received help. 

Luke’s past, along with his head-on approach to managing depression in the present, combines to create a powerful story he isn’t afraid to share. “I finally found the courage to talk about what I was feeling, and I’ve made sure I have a community who will listen ever since.” 

Luke also said strategies like fitness and setting achievable short-term goals have proven successful strategies for him. But when it comes to mental health, he calls it a “two-way street.” To those struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide, Luke says, “You have to be willing to be helped.” And he reminds others that “depression isn’t always obvious, and it doesn’t always have a clear cause.”

Luke partners with local resources like Heroes in Waiting, an anti-bullying organization whose curriculum and live programming focus on helping kids shape a culture of empathy in their schools and peer groups and on specific ways they can step up to make a life-changing difference for someone else.

For resources on how to help, visit 988oklahoma.com. If you need help, call 988 today. Visit heroesinwaiting.org to see more of Luke’s story.