JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — The mother of an Army veteran who committed suicide is working to turn her pain into passion.

What You Need To Know

  • Donations will be collected at at her store and at Kimbrell's Furniture on Saturday, November 7 in Jacksonville

  • Davis vows to help cover the costs of veterans who want to go to a civilian doctor

 

Opening the International Veterans Empowerment Thrift Store means more than just owning a business for Yvette Davis, the mother of U.S. Army veteran Dimitri Martin, who committed suicide in 2018 at the age of 24.

After the store is operating, Davis vows to help cover the costs of veterans who want to go to a civilian doctor.

“I've made it my passion that if a veteran needs help with PTSD, or any mental health issue, that I will support them, and they will be allowed to see a doctor of their choice without restriction,” Davis says.

She feels her son was failed while he was alive, and she has tried working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for the past two years to receive her son's military records but has had very little success.

“I was told from, I guess in Missouri where the archive, where the medical records are at, if I want his medical file I have to take them to court and sue them for it,” Davis says.

But it isn't just the VA. Three weeks before her son's death, he was admitted into Onslow Memorial Hospital for an attempted suicide but was released without Davis' knowledge.

“They released him from the hospital, in a paper gown, walked the street to my job in one of those blue paper gowns with no shoes on. So I confronted them, they were like 'well he's an adult and we don't owe you that,' but the day he committed suicide in the family home with the body still next to my feet, they are telling me they found who I was, was able to call me because they need his organs, but alive they didn't feel the need to call me,” Davis says.

She also feels things would have been taken more seriously if her son was Caucasian.

“I do believe he would have been treated differently, and I do believe it wouldn't have taken two years for my story to get out,” she says.

But through it all, Davis wants to ensure her son didn't die in vain . She's using the thrift store and the Dimitri Sean Martin Legacy Fund to help others going through mental health struggles.

“I plan to do changes. I may not reach every veteran, but even if it's just one life I'm able to save, maybe I spare a family from going through what I've been through,” Davis says.

For those looking to help, donations will be collected at her store and at Kimbrell's Furniture on Saturday, November 7 in Jacksonville.