Our dear son Sanjeev Panja lost his life to suicide at the very tender age of 20. Sanjeev was always a caring, loving, funny, goofy, and extremely motivated kid. He was always laughing and making others laugh.

Sanjeev will forever be remembered for his radiant smile, his infectious laughter and his unique sense of humor. To us and to the world he was a bundle of endless energy — always extremely motivated and full of life. To him, his world was his family and friends. He seemed to have the perfect balance in life. He always kept up with studies, loved sports, and loved having lots of fun with friends.

We consider ourselves a very “normal” family. Our home environment was warm, friendly, and never dysfunctional. We never noticed any suicide warning signs of in Sanjeev. He always seemed cheerful, happy, and always kept in touch with us.

However, on February 12th, 2022, our lives changed forever. We received incomprehensible news that we could never have prepared for. It completely shattered our lives.

We had always openly communicated with Sanjeev on all aspects of life, but it never occurred to us to ask him about his mental wellness. It never dawned on us to start a conversation with him about his mental health.

The pain and grief we are going through is unimaginable and no parent should have to go through what we are going through. Even more so, no person should have to go through the pain that our son went through.

In Sanjeev’s memory, we want to raise greater awareness on the importance of suicide prevention and the normalization of mental health in our community. We hope that the Run for Jeev Foundation will be able to help more communities like ours to facilitate greater conversation around mental health, more families like ours to openly communicate about mental wellness, and more people like our son to seek the help they need and realize the irreplaceable impact they have on this world.

-Srinivas, Nirmala, and Sruthi Panja