April's Story,
Told in Full
April Tayler Bocian was 17 years old when she died by suicide in May 2015. This is her complete story — the daughter, sister, teammate, and friend her family will never stop honoring — told in her own photographs and in the video her community made in her memory.
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A Girl Who Made Everyone Feel Seen
April's smile was the first thing people noticed. Then they noticed how she used it: welcoming new students, defending the lonely, making the forgotten feel remembered. She was a fierce competitor on the basketball court, a devoted daughter, and a friend who genuinely saw people.
She kept her own pain hidden, fighting depression in silence while lifting everyone around her. Her family built this foundation so no other family endures this loss alone, partnering with AFSP, NAMI, and the EmpowHer retreat.
Her Complete Story
April was born on April 28, 1998 at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At just one day old, Mercy Hospital selected her to appear in an advertising campaign for their school of nursing — her picture appeared on billboards and buses throughout the tri-state region. She grew up with a love of basketball, a sharp sense of humor, and a rare gift for compassion. At school, she took new students under her wing. She looked out for the lonely and the overlooked. She made everyone she met feel valued and seen.
She was a fierce competitor on the basketball court, known for her stunning red hair and her love of fashion. Off the court, she was the kind of friend who would clown around with her basketball teammates and play practical jokes on her sisters — the sort of easy warmth that turned ordinary moments into memories her family still carries with them.
April loved the beach. Her family took vacations to Erie and North Carolina, and she dreamed of traveling farther — especially to California. She looked forward to upcoming basketball team trips to tournaments around the country, and to every next chapter she believed was ahead of her.
Inside, April was fighting a battle few could see. She carried the weight of depression and mental illness quietly, hiding it from the world she worked so hard to brighten. On May 5, 2015, one week after her 17th birthday, April died by suicide. The world lost someone extraordinary. Her family refused to let her loss be the end of her story.
The days that followed were held together by community. Neighbors, teammates, coaches, teachers, and friends filled the Bocian home with meals and memories and the small, ordinary kindnesses that April herself had spent her short life giving to everyone around her. Out of that grief, and out of that love, the April T. Bocian Memorial Foundation was born.
Photos of April
Two of the pictures her family holds closest — the smile everyone remembers, and the fierce Spartans #34 on the basketball court she loved.
The People Who Loved Her
April in the community that raised her — and that now carries her memory forward through the foundation her family built in her honor.
April, In Motion
The tribute video the family shared in April's memory — a moving glimpse of the girl her community will never stop remembering.
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
You are to live with boundless compassion,
Just as Jesus did through his passion.
As he loved us, we should love one another,
Sharing the joys and pains of one another.
Feeling another's happiness or hurt as one's own,
Not a single person would be alone.
Together we shall participate in a union of love.
And all will end up, side by side, in Heaven above.
Written by April Bocian, shortly before her passing
Be the Reason a Young Girl Does Not Suffer Alone
Your gift funds scholarships for students who remind us of April, programs that build resilience in young girls, and the mental health education that could save a life. Every contribution matters. Every one.