Budd suicide: A burden too great

There are many spiritually uplifting quotes that give us hope when chips are down.

"God will never give you more than you can bear," comes to mind.

Another is: "If God leads you to it, he'll lead you through it."

Those soothing phrases sound nice, but they just don't always pan out.

Take the case of Randy Budd. He was the husband of the Uniontown, Ohio, schoolteacher critically injured on July 10, 2014, when four Pennsylvania teens decided to engage in midnight mischief. They tossed a 5-pound rock over the side of an I-81 bridge overpass. The carnage that resulted was shocking.

The rock smashed through the top of the Budds' car and crushed Sharon Budd's skull to the point where a portion of her brain visibly protruded from her forehead.

She lost an eye and suffered injuries so severe she came close to death.

Expert medical attention saved her life, but the mother of four will never be the same. She requires daily care. It's safe to say she's no longer the person Randy Budd married.

Still, the hotel business executive and former professional baseball player persevered for two years, tenderly caring for his beloved wife and likely dealing with issues few could imagine.

He watched Sharon slowly make progress. But he also realized things would never be the same, not for him, his wife, or his children.

Adding insult to injury, he saw the teens get light jail sentences, almost like a slap on the wrist.

Budd, 55, reached a boiling point last month when he posted this comment on Facebook:

"On July 11, it will be two years since those bastards decided to throw a five-pound rock off an overpass and totally disable my Sharon. She has been through hell and back.

"Most recent, Sharon was admitted to a rehab facility to try to gain SOME independence. After seven weeks away from her family it was decided that she still needs constant care.

"What a shame, she took so much pride in being a productive mother, wife, friend, daughter, mentor and teacher. We are left with scars mentally, emotionally, financially and physically.

"Approved paroles are coming to my house from PA. I guess those young men that took Sharon from us will get to live their lives into the future as normal. The damage they caused is permanent!"

The pain carried by brokenhearted Randy Budd was obvious in those words. He wanted peace at any cost.

On Saturday, he found it.

Police say he took a gun and shot himself around 11 o'clock that night.

In contrast to uplifting quotes that suggest otherwise, it's possible for a mortal man to encounter a burden greater than what he can handle.

The flesh is weak and hope is not a bottomless well.

As we've seen, the spirit can be broken and lives destroyed by pure evil that dwells among us. It only takes a few shameless, misguided teens and a 5-pound rock to deliver despair.

Randy Budd deserved better. Sharon, too. The entire Budd family has been shattered for no reason at all.

Pain can challenge survival. Any man can reach a breaking point.

Of course, suicide is never the answer.

But if ever there was a suicide so understandable as to be forgiven, it is this one.

By Donald R. Serfass | dserfass@tnonline.com