From the Publisher: “[Pittsburgher] Dana Ziemniak lost her son, Evan, because of a dare from a school bully. Since then, she’s made it her mission to educate people everywhere about the dangerous social media challenges that prompted the dare.
In Blue is the Color of Heaven, Dana discusses her experience getting Evan an adequate diagnosis for his invisible disabilities. Despite her medical training as a pharmacist, she felt hopeless on her journey-even after turning to her school for support. Eventually, Evan was diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, and high-functioning autism.
But it wasn’t enough.
Blue is the Color of Heaven is her way of taking a stand. In Blue is the Color of Heaven, Dana shares her struggle to getting Evan diagnosed-offering a glimpse into the challenges parents face when children have disabilities.
It also sheds light on the inadequacies we see within our schools. But most importantly, it overviews some of the dangers lurking among today’s youth. Because how can you protect a child from something you don’t know about?”
On Dr. Phil About the Author: “Dana Ziemniak received a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy from Duquesne University and worked as a pharmacist for 15 years in various settings-hospital, retail, and specialty-before she quit working to take care of her family. Her job became fighting for her son, Evan, who was diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, and high-functioning autism. After losing Evan to a dare from a school bully, Dana made it her mission to raise awareness about dangerous social media games, bullying, and other invisible threats that affect today’s youth.”
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What inspired you to write Blue is the Color of Heaven – The Story of a Boy’s Love, Strength & Beyond?
I was inspired to write this book because I wanted to share my son’s story and spread awareness about the deadly challenge that took his life. I also want to shed light on the struggles families face when dealing with children with invisible disabilities, bullying, and the inadequacies in our schools.
How’d you come up with the title of the book?
I started finding a ton of bird feathers everywhere I went. Evan used to pick up bird feathers and keep them. I would tell him not to touch them because they were full of germs, but he didn’t listen. He always had a stash of feathers in my car and all over the house. I still have a bunch of his feathers that he had collected. I just knew the feathers we found were from Evan.
Over the years we have found all kinds of feathers in some unexpected places. Once I was sitting on the couch in the family room and a little white feather just floated down from above and landed right on me. Another medium friend asked Evan to send cardinal feathers to us because we had never found one of those. He told her he wanted to send us a blue jay feather because blue is the color of heaven and then he showed himself plucking a tail feather from a blue jay. Not long after that, we found a blue jay tail feather sticking straight up out of the ground at my father-in-law’s house. That summer our daughter Ava ended up finding a bunch of cardinal feathers too. She had gotten upset about losing the first cardinal feather she found, so Evan sent her a few more. She was so excited. We now have stashes of feathers throughout the house and in my car. Evan has a good sense of humor!
Who should read this book?
Anyone with a child needs to read this, and that extends to grandparents and other family members. It also should be read by school personnel, law enforcement, and the medical community.
What surprised you the most about becoming a first-time author and writing this book?
The thing that surprised me the most about writing my first book was the fact that I did it. I never thought I would be able to do it. Now, as time has moved forward and the book is published, I’m shocked at the outpouring of support from complete strangers. And, of course, being on Dr. Phil is beyond anything I ever imagined. Having Dr. Phil’s support and knowing he takes the “blackout challenge” and “choking game” seriously and wants to save lives means everything to me and my family. The opportunity to share Evan’s story with a national audience was my goal and now everyone will know the truth behind Evan’s death.
What would you say are the biggest takeaways?
I want readers to be aware of dangerous internet challenges like the choking game so they can talk to their kids and tell them how deadly they can be.
- Don’t ever think “not my child”.
- You are not alone.
- You are the best advocate for your child.
- Have the difficult conversations with your children…it can save their lives.
Matt and Dana Ziemniak appeared on Dr. Phil – Shedding Light on “The Blackout Challenge”, Thursday, January 5 at 3:00 pm EST, on CBS (KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh).
Information on the episode can be found at https://www.drphil.com/shows/shedding-light-on-the-blackout-challenge/.
Blue is the Color of Heaven is available on Amazon.com, BN.com, and other online retailers.
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