The Rollercoaster Podcast

In this episode, I sit down with Matthew Griffin, who spent 21 years serving in the military and law enforcement. During those years, Matt saw things most of us will never see. But one call would stay with him for decades.

As a young police officer, Matt responded to the accidental death of two-and-a-half-year-old Benny Jr., the son of a friend. Matt was the first officer on scene and performed CPR, but Benny didn’t survive. What followed was years of guilt, nightmares, drinking, and the belief that if he had reacted just seconds sooner, maybe he could have saved him.

The trauma didn’t stay at work. Slowly, Matt began losing himself, his marriage, his identity, and eventually his desire to keep living.

In this episode, we talk about:
The call involving two-year-old Benny Jr. that changed Matt’s life forever

The hidden reality of PTSD, trauma, and mental health among police officers and first responders

How undercover police work consumed Matt’s identity and contributed to the breakdown of his marriage

The moments that pushed Matt toward suicide and what ultimately kept him here

Why simply checking on someone can be more powerful than we realize

This conversation is about what happens when the people we expect to save everyone else are quietly falling apart themselves.

And why sometimes surviving starts with giving life one more hour. One more day.

Key Moments:
00:00 The Police Call That Changed Everything
03:03 Meeting Benny Jr. Days Before the Tragedy
10:24 The Guilt That Haunted Him for Years
18:02 The Hidden Mental Health Crisis in Policing
24:18 When Undercover Police Work Took Over His Life
27:31 Losing His Marriage, Home and Identity
32:14 Taking Accountability for Who He Became
36:04 His Chief Checked on Him, Then Died by Suicide
42:04 The Phone Call That Saved Matt’s Life
48:47 Why Checking In on Someone Could Save a Life
53:22 “If Today Is a Good Day to Die, So Is Tomorrow”
59:44 The Check-In Every Leader Should Be Doing
1:03:29 What Matt Would Say to Someone Considering Suicide

Connect with Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/

Connect with Matt:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormatthewgriffin/

In this episode, I sit down with Olivia Burnett, who lost her dad, Kevin, to stage four colon cancer at just 24 years old. He was her Superman, the person who gave her confidence, made her feel unstoppable, and always reminded her that she was “golden.” Within months of his death, grief pulled Olivia into a darkness she never expected.

She tried therapy. Medication. Exercise. Friends. Family. Everything people tell you to do when you're struggling with depression. But nothing seemed to break through. Eventually, Olivia found herself sitting on her bed with a bottle of pills in her hand, believing suicide was the only way out.

Then two words entered her mind: Hold on. That tiny piece of hope was enough.

In this episode, we talk about:
Losing her dad to stage four colon cancer at just 24 years old
The delayed grief that sent Olivia into a devastating battle with depression
The night she believed suicide was her only way out and the two words that stopped her
How tiny, everyday decisions helped her slowly find hope, resilience, and purpose again
Turning unimaginable pain into a reason to help others hold on through their darkest moments

This conversation isn't about pretending everything gets better overnight. It's about what can happen when you hold on long enough to see what comes next.

Key Moments:
00:00 My Dad Was Healthy Then Everything Changed
04:06 The Signs of Stage 4 Colon Cancer We Missed
08:02 The Night I Watched My Dad Die
11:12 The Future Cancer Stole From Us
15:03 How My Dad Faced Death Without Fear
19:03 Finding Yellow Socks in the Darkness
22:09 Why “Choose Happiness” Isn't That Simple
25:16 When Grief Turned Into Severe Depression
28:03 The Night I Almost Ended My Life
31:16 Turning My Pain Into Purpose
35:46 How I Finally Climbed Out of the Darkness
39:34 The Small Decisions That Saved Me
41:06 What My Dad Would Say to Me Today

Connect with Me:
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/⁠

Connect with Olivia:
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/twentysomething_podcast/⁠

There are some stories you hear that stay with you long after the conversation ends. This is one of them.

In this episode, I sit down with Nathan Wieser, a husband, father and author of We Did It, to talk about a journey through pregnancy loss, infant loss, miscarriage, PTSD, grief and a fight to become a father that lasted more than a decade. Nathan and his wife Lucy endured loss after loss. But nothing could prepare them for the day their daughter Mary died during birth, while Lucy herself was fighting to stay alive. 

Nathan remembers sitting alone in a hospital hallway waiting for one thing: to hear his daughter cry. The cry never came. What followed were years of grief, trauma and fear before they found the courage to try again.

Then came Otto. Born at just 26 weeks and weighing only two pounds, Otto spent 121 days in the NICU fighting through emergency surgeries, sepsis and moments when his parents didn't know if he would survive.

In this episode:
Losing their daughter Mary during childbirth and nearly losing Lucy too
The miscarriages, grief and PTSD that followed their devastating loss
Finding the courage to try for another child after years of trauma
Otto’s premature birth and the terrifying 121-day fight for his life in the NICU
How loss changed Nathan’s perspective on fatherhood, marriage and what truly matters

This is an incredibly raw conversation about losing children, surviving trauma, marriage, fatherhood and finding hope when life has given you every reason to stop believing things can get better.

This conversation gave me a lot to think about as a father. I think it will do the same for you.

Key Moments:
00:00 Waiting for a Cry That Never Came
06:22 The Diagnosis No Parent Is Ready For
12:38 The Moment Everything Went Horribly Wrong
18:04 Telling His Wife Their Baby Had Died
24:19 Could They Ever Try for a Baby Again?
28:17 Losing Their Twins Without a Heartbeat
31:12 The Phone Call That Saved His Life
36:45 Meeting His Two-Pound Son for the First Time
41:42 The NICU Nightmare Begins
47:25 His Heart Stopped Again
49:13 The Miracle Doctors Couldn’t Explain
52:06 They Finally Got Home... Then Lost Everything
54:15 Walking Through Hell to Find Their Miracle
58:28 The Best and Worst of the Medical System
1:00:36 Why He Gave Up Alcohol for His Son

Connect with Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/

Connect with Nathan Wieser:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanwieser/
We Did It by Nathan Wieser (Author): https://www.amazon.com/We-Did-perspective-enduring-miscarriages/dp/B0FLVTTHPY/

In this episode, I sit down with Jaclyn Rose, a mental health advocate whose life has been shaped by unimaginable loss. Jaclyn shares the heartbreaking story of losing her uncle to suicide, her father to addiction, and years later, her older brother to the very same battle. Rather than allowing grief to harden her heart, she chose to understand it.

This conversation challenged the way I think about addiction, mental health, suicide, grief, and what it truly means to love someone who is suffering. We talk about the silence that often surrounds these struggles, why shame keeps so many families trapped, and how healing begins when we stop asking, “How could you do this to us?” and start asking, “What pain were you carrying?”

In this episode:
Losing her uncle, father, and brother to suicide and addiction
The text message from her dad hours before he unexpectedly died
Why shame and silence make grief even harder to carry
What addiction taught her about love, forgiveness, and compassion
How she turned unimaginable loss into a mission to help others heal

If you've ever lost someone to suicide or addiction, love someone battling mental illness, or are carrying grief that still feels too heavy to name, I hope this episode reminds you that you are not alone.

Key Moments:
00:00 The Text Message That Changed Everything
05:12 Seeing Her Uncle After Suicide at Just 9 Years Old
09:08 Why Silence Makes Grief Even Worse
16:17 The Birthday That Changed Her Relationship with Her Dad
20:01 The Truth About Her Father's Addiction
24:03 Reuniting With Her Dad One Week Before He Died
31:00 How Grief Turned Into Anxiety, Addiction & Survival
34:19 Why Time Doesn't Heal Trauma
36:05 Can You Love Someone Who Keeps Hurting You?
43:03 What Addiction Really Feels Like
46:41 Her Brother Started Following the Same Path
50:10 Loving Someone Without Enabling Them
54:08 "I Got My Son Back"... Or So We Thought
59:20 The Second Phone Call That Broke Her Heart
1:02:00 Saying Goodbye Without Shame
1:07:48 The Biggest Gaps in Mental Health Treatment
1:10:04 Why We Need to Change the Way We Talk About Grief

Connect with Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/

Connect with Jaclyn Rose:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellnesswithjac/

As a parent, there are certain things you never think you’ll have to face. Watching your child fight for their life is one of them.

In this episode, I sit down with Jheri South, a mother of seven whose story is filled with heartbreak, addiction, mental health struggles, suicide attempts, and an unbelievable determination to keep fighting.

Jheri shares how her seemingly picture-perfect life unraveled when her husband’s crystal meth addiction tore their family apart. Years later, she would face every parent’s worst nightmare when her daughter Grace attempted to take her own life and collapsed into her arms having seizures.

What follows is a raw conversation about suicide, autism in girls, ADHD, neurodivergence, parenting teenagers, and what our children may be carrying without us ever knowing.

In this episode:
Addiction tearing apart Jheri’s family

The warning signs she never saw coming

The night she almost lost her daughter

Discovering undiagnosed autism and ADHD

How parents can truly connect with struggling teens

This conversation gave me a lot to think about as a father. I think it will do the same for you.

Key Moments:
0:00 I Thought My Daughter Was Dying 
6:36 Leaving Home at Just 15 
10:02 When My Kids’ Mental Health Changed 
16:01 The Loneliness Nobody Saw 
23:26 The Mindset Shift That Changed Everything 
29:16 The Suicide Attempt That Haunts Me 
35:22 The Night My Daughter Tried to Die 
40:02 “Are We in Heaven?” 
47:32 Parenting vs. Connecting With Your Teen 
54:22 The Hidden Damage of Seeking Approval 
58:02 Are You Borrowing Your Self-Confidence? 
1:04:02 Your Thoughts Aren’t Always True 
1:06:57 Breaking Free From External Validation

Connect with Me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyler.hall/

Connect with Jheri:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jherisouth/