McKenna Way Memorial Day honors the life of a teenager two years after his tragic death

OLDSMAR, Florida – Two years ago we introduced you to McKenna Brown.

The pretty teenager achieved excellent academic results and became the star goalie of a traveling ice hockey team.

However, her parents say cyberbullying destroyed her mental health and McKenna committed suicide at just 16 years old.

“The loss we have suffered has irrevocably and forever changed our family,” said Hunter Brown, McKenna’s father.

Hunter said his grieving family will miss McKenna's incredible spirit.

“She changed the atmosphere of a room when she was in it. She just brought joy and life to everything she did,” Hunter explained.

Therefore, on the second anniversary of her death, McKenna's parents organized a celebration in McKenna's honor at the Tampa Bay Skating Academy in Oldsmar.

“For people under 50 in this country, the leading cause of death is overdose, the leading cause is suicide,” says Eric Kussin, founder of the nonprofit organization #Samehere Global.

His nonprofit organization works to combat the stigma surrounding mental illness and provides celebrities and athletes with an opportunity to speak openly about their own struggles.

“We don't condemn people when we lose their cardiovascular system to a heart attack. I call suicide a heart attack of our central nervous system. It is an accumulation of stressful and traumatic events over a long period of time,” Eric said.

In honor of McKenna's life and legacy, many of those in attendance took to the ice to play hockey, all wearing her number 34 jersey.

The Tampa Bay Lightning even donated auction items, with all proceeds going to a girls' hockey scholarship at USF, where McKenna wanted to play.

“She was always kind and compassionate, just from the bottom of her heart. She held the door open for strangers. She gave, you know, the shirt off her back. She helped people in need that she didn't even know,” said Cheryl Brown, McKenna's mother.

Cheryl also talked about the nonprofit organization, The McKenna Way, which the Brown family just founded to spread their daughter's message of kindness.

“Her death will not have been in vain, and her legacy of kindness will live on and continue to help people, as many people as we can,” Cheryl said.

Part of “The McKenna Way” is making a commitment to be kind, to seek help when needed, and to support others so that no one suffers in silence like McKenna did.

“She was larger than life and a calming factor in so many people's lives, especially mine. But she was just full of love and life and light, and that's gone, and I still can't quite accept that,” Cheryl said.

Cyberbullying is not a crime in the state of Florida, so no charges have ever been filed. But The McKenna Way is committed to keeping children safe online at the national, state and local levels.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at (800) 273-8255 or simply dial 988.

Click here to learn more about The McKenna Way nonprofit organization.