Path of Life: One Alumna's
Mission to Ease People's
Transition from Life to Death
By: Kirsten Swanson
“My girlfriend is dying. Can you help me?”
O
f all of the questions one might be asked while sitting
outside a gas station in Mexico, this was the last one
Stephanie Suggs '14 was expecting.
Turns out, Stephanie trained her whole life to help this man.
Although her life journey took quite a few twists and turns,
thanks to the education she received from Gwynedd Mercy
University, Stephanie ended up right where she belonged at just
the right time.
Her journey began when she returned home from serving in the
military. Stephanie decided she wanted to be a nurse since she
believed it was the only way to continue helping people.
She enrolled at Montgomery County Community College and
soon realized that while she was excelling in all of her other
courses, science was not her strong suit. Wanting to explore
different options, Stephanie scheduled a campus visit at
Gwynedd Mercy University.
Stephanie immediately knew this was the place for her and
after getting accepted, sat down with the now Human Services
Program Coordinator Stephanie Fratantaro, MS, NCC, LPC.
Together, the pair mapped out Stephanie’s likes and dislikes on
a yellow legal pad.
“Professor Fratantaro said, ‘You do great with older people; we
have a gerontology program you should look into’,” Stephanie
said. “I was like, what the heck is that? I never heard of it.”
Stephanie took the leap and enrolled in GMercyU’s Gerontology
program. It wasn’t until her second semester while in Professor
Mary Reilly’s “Death and Dying” course that she realized this
was her life’s calling.
Stephanie was still navigating the tough transition back to
civilian life and would often be triggered by certain class topics.
It was during this time she was introduced to Professor Wade
Luquet, PhD.
“He is an angel from heaven.”
“If I was crying or had a moment of PTSD, I wasn’t judged.
Being able to connect with him like that, it opened up my
mind,” Stephanie said. “With Dr. Luquet allowing me to
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have the safe space, I took off. I knew I wanted to be like Dr.
Luquet.”
Alongside Professor Luquet, Stephanie researched universities
with accredited Master of Social Work programs. After
graduating with her bachelor’s degree in gerontology from
GMercyU, she chose the University of Southern California’s
MSW program, partly for its respected program, partly for the
sunny weather.
Upon graduating from USC, Stephanie was hired as a director
at a nursing home facility. She then became the Director of
Resident and Family Services at a 142-bed facility that dealt
with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Stephanie was working at the facility for about a year when she
realized she wasn’t taking care of herself. She knew in order to
help others, she had to first help herself.
“I decided to go on hiatus. I literally walked across the border
to Mexico and found a place to live on the beach,” Stephanie
said.
Three months later while sitting outside a gas station in Mexico,
Stephanie was asked the question:
“My girlfriend is dying. Can you help me?”
“I was minding my own business, just enjoying the sunshine,”
Stephanie said. “I looked up at the sky and was like ‘God,
really? Out of all of the people on the planet, you put him in
front of me’?”
Stephanie immediately put her training hat on and discovered
that this was an American in need of help. Within hours she
found the woman’s family on Facebook and helped coordinate
her trip back to the United States. She stayed with the woman
for her last 27 days on earth as her death doula.
Word began to spread among the American retiree population
in Mexico and she has since carved out a business as a death
doula, serving as both an advocate and a caretaker.
“You find yourself in situations where a stranger sits in front
of you and asks, ‘Can you help me’ and you have the tools to
actually help them,” Stephanie said. “That didn’t come from
graduate school. That came from Gwynedd Mercy University.”