The CrossFit community lost one of it’s own recently to a tragic culprit. Becky Sefscik passed away on Aug. 31, 2015 after deciding to take her own life.

We at FitnessHQ don’t want to judge Becky, but aim to instead be real, try to honor her and hopefully help others.

Becky was a Navy veteran and suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, more commonly known as PTSD.  She was a coach at CrossFit The Tracks in Erlanger, Kentucky and according to her CrossFit Games page could do Grace in 1:45 — wow!

Those close to her say she was really good at hiding her pain. Everyone knew she had some struggles — we all do in everyday life — but no one realized the depth of her despair. She had many close friends in and out of the gym and many of them are still in disbelief.*

CrossFit The Tracks is performing a WOD on Labor Day this year in her honor and is encouraging other boxes to do the same.  This is a WOD that Becky herself programmed back in July 2014 when another coach was out on vacation and came to be known at their box as “Why Becky Why?”

After co-worker Matt Plapp performed the workout, he said to Becky, “You’re not coaching the next class, you’re doing this crazy WOD!”  Becky of course did it and crushed it.

For Time complete:

 

That is a whole lot of work! If you or your box would like to perform this WOD in Becky’s honor, more details can be found on Facebook.

Here at FitnessHQ, we’d also like to take this opportunity to honor Becky by trying to help those who may be in similar circumstances.

Life is hard.

Life is stressful.

We see things we’d rather not see.

We do things we wish he hadn’t done.

This hurts us inside and cuts deep.

On top of this we sometimes feel alone.

And we feel overwhelmed. Unable to cope.

The only way to make it through sometimes is to get help.

There are always people who care and want to help.

1) If you are at the end of your rope and feel like letting go, please ask for help. Whether it’s reaching out to a close friend or family member or utilizing a resource like the Suicide Prevention Lifeline, you are never alone.

2) If you are living a normal life, do your best to look out for others that may need help. You may be able to see something no one else sees.  You may be the person who can save a life. A lot of times, simply asking “Are you okay?” can get the conversation started. You may never know how badly someone needs a friend.

We are sorry that you have left us and wish we could have helped. But we hope that your life will now in some way help others dealing with the despair you felt.

* Thanks to Matt Plapp for helping with this article.