Madalyn "Madi" Rose Prewett

Our funny, beautiful, and incredible girl, Madalyn "Madi" Prewett passed away in her dorm room at CU Boulder on October 1, 2019. She was 19 years old. We are, of course, heartbroken. She was born in Loveland, but grew up in Fort Collins where she has been surrounded by her extended family.

Perhaps you know Madi from Redeemer Lutheran Preschool where she was happy, bubbly and liked to dress herself in crazy outfits. She said she wanted to look "chalet", which meant "beautiful" in her mind.

Or maybe you knew her from Zach Elementary where she was smart, tenderhearted, and an excellent speller. She loved her teachers and was always up for hugs.

You would have seen her at Preston Middle School doing back handsprings and splits because she loved gymnastics. We loved watching her as she tried to figure out who she would be in this world.

Perhaps your child played with Madi or against her during her many years of playing soccer for either Arsenal or Storm. She was a fierce midfielder who gave 110% to every game.

Or possibly you knew her when she went to Fossil Ridge High School, where Madi's amazing personality became more defined. She was so incredibly funny. But unfortunately, it was also during this time that Madi started to get sick. So you might not have seen her during class or Homecoming or at games; Madi was so exhausted with constant vomiting, dizziness, fatigue, and migraines that she had to miss out on much of her junior and senior year. In spite of this, she was able to still graduate with her class in May 2018.

There will be some who read this that knew her from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where Madi was able to go in the fall of '18, when there was a brief, albeit short, break in her symptoms. Although we felt like her illness was improving, she spent much of this semester at the hospital and doctor's appointments. She still managed to get a 3.8 because she never gave up. Madi loved this time in her life. In spite of everything, she made some great friends and was able to enjoy the beaches and mountains whenever she could. However, by February she became too ill and had to come home from Hawaii. In addition to the physical battle she had been fighting for 2 years, she also had to deal with a number of blows to our family. The hardest of which was the cancer diagnosis and eventual death of her most beloved cousin, Kate, in August 2018. By now the depression that had previously come in waves became an ocean that tried to pull her down.

For those of you who knew her, you wouldn't have seen Madi this spring because she stayed in her room, exhausted but trying everything possible to fight this. This time was filled with numerous doctor and hospital visits to address her physical illnesses (by now, she had been diagnosed with more than one) and intensive therapy and treatment for her mental illness. But maybe you met her at CU Boulder, where she decided to go after her symptoms improved in July. The first half of the year was so hard on her and now that she felt better, Madi was ready to live! She had so many things she wanted to do, create, and see!

Two weeks before her death, however, Madi mentioned that her symptoms were coming back in full force. It was difficult for her to just get out of bed, much less get to class and study. The day before she killed herself, she told us she worried about having to live a life on disability and having to live at home forever while she watched everyone around her go on and live the life she wanted to live. We assured her, as always, that we were all supporting her and that she had made so many improvements that we were sure she would be able to have the life she envisioned. After a difficult Monday, she decided that the incredible physical and mental burden that she could never take off was too much to carry, and she decided to put it down permanently.

There are a few things about her that we want to world to know.

We don't blame Madi at all; we have all watched how hard she fought to stay alive. We are angry, however, that our poor girl got knocked down time and time again and never got a break. We are angry that she didn't get to have the life she deserved and worked so hard for.

We want you to know that Madi is the strongest person we know, and she was a fighter. When she was told that the best chance for a recovery was exercise, she dragged herself on the treadmill to run an hour. Every day. And this was after she had lost so much weight, she didn't have any nutrients in her body, and she hadn't gotten any sleep because of the constant vomiting that happened even at night. Our weak girl gave it everything she had. Madi did everything she was told to try and get better. She took every prescription, made it to every appointment, took notes on everything the doctors said, she was a proactive client with every counselor, and she practiced everything they taught her.

We take comfort in the knowledge that Madi knew she wasn't alone and that we, as a family, were her biggest cheerleaders. She knew that we would all continue to do anything we could to try to get her some effective help. She knew we would carry her on our backs if we could.

We take comfort knowing that Madi never doubted how much she was loved. She was very vocal to us and her friends about how close our family was and how much we all loved her. We know that she loved us all as well.

We're very proud of her for being honest with her struggles on social media. It is so hard to find something genuine in that sea of photos with everyone displaying the best times of their life. But Madi took a chance and made a post on April 19th where she talked about her struggles with depression and thoughts of suicide to her 1,102 followers and she steered people toward resources to help them. We are so incredibly proud of our girl for being vulnerable and authentic! She was nervous about doing it, but soon felt relieved when so many people reached out to her for help and told her that they, too, were struggling.

We are thankful that she had great friends supporting her. Whether she was here in Fort Collins, Honolulu, or Boulder, Madi managed to find people that loved her and made sure she knew how amazing she was. They would make sure she could join in Homecoming, even if it meant they left the dance to bring her home when it became too much. They sat quietly with her on the sofa and watched TV when she couldn't sit up. They helped her with her classes and they cheered her on. They kept texting and reaching out to her, even when she wanted to just curl into a ball.

We are thankful to all the people who have reached out with food, a sympathetic ear, or their own stories of our girl and how much she meant to them. We are also thankful to everyone who has been praying for our family.

If you didn't know her, you really missed out. Madi was so funny and fun to be around. She rarely complained and always tried to be optimistic. When talking about her or watching videos of her, we feel such a loss that such a vibrant and incredible light has gone out in the world.

Although Madi was a huge part of many lives, it is us, her family, who will feel her loss the most. Madi is survived by her parents, Gary Jr. and Linda, and her four siblings: Maike (24), Ava (17), Emily (17), and Noah (4). Her grandparents are Gary and Beccy Prewett of Fort Collins, Eunice Krivonak of Loveland, and Don (Gail) Mayo of Broomfield. We are very lucky to have our extended family nearby and Madi was able to grow up with their constant support. They are John and Megan Prewett of Fort Collins, Adalyn and Steve Odom of Houston, Alex Prewett of Fort Collins, Lynette and Mike Nugent of New Zealand, Pam and Greg Miller of Broomfield, Don and Teresa Mayo of Arvada, and Dianna Mayo of Denver. Additionally, she had many cousins that lived nearby. Madi is preceded in death by her aunt Patty Lovisone of Denver, her grandpa Edward "Papa" Krivonak of Loveland, and her incredibly loved and missed cousin, Kate Prewett of Fort Collins. We hold on to the hope that she and Kate are now together and causing a ruckus up in heaven.

We will celebrate her life on Tuesday, October 15th, at 4:00 pm at Windsong Estate Event Center. Their address is 2901 Saddler Blvd, Severance, CO 80524. And while we love flowers, they also tend to die. We ask that anyone who knew her send or bring photos or a memory to share. At this time we want to gather every part of our girl that we can.