(Butler, PA) Gina Rhoades felt her brother鈥檚 heartbeat again more than a year after he died.
It was after a concert and at 1:30 in the morning on a street in Queens, N.Y. The man she had never met stood beside an open driver鈥檚-side door and reached out.
鈥淗e grabbed my hand,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd held it there.鈥�
The heart of her only sibling was thumping alongside a pickup truck, its engine running.
Jacob Rhoades, 21, of Emlenton, died Aug. 5, 2023, two days after being flown by medical helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital. His cause of death was suicide. His organs were donated.
Left photo: Gina Rhoades, left, and her only sibling, Jacob, sit atop their family鈥檚 new all-terrain vehicle in fall 2009 in Nickleville, Venango County. Right photo: Jacob clutches his rooster named Red as he and Gina await a school bus in front of their home in Nickleville in August 2013.
鈥淚 love you. Hold on until we get there. Don鈥檛 go until we get there. If you鈥檙e going to go, don鈥檛 leave yet. Why did you do this? Why didn鈥檛 you just talk to us?鈥�
-- 91成人 student Gina Rhoades, by telephone to her unconsious brother, Jacob
Jacob Rhoades poses for his senior class portrait Monday, Aug. 26, 2019, on his family鈥檚 Dick-Mar Farm in Nickleville, Venango County.
Rhoades was vacationing with her family in Clearwater, Fla., when her mother screamed. Jacob had shot himself. They needed to get back to Pittsburgh.
Rhoades fell to the floor of the hotel room. As her family rushed to make unexpected travel arrangements, she spoke into a telephone pressed to her brother鈥檚 ear.
鈥淚 love you. Hold on until we get there. Don鈥檛 go until we get there. If you鈥檙e going to go, don鈥檛 leave yet. Why did you do this? Why didn鈥檛 you just talk to us?鈥�
Jacob never regained consciousness.
Rhoades stood at his hospital bedside the next night and 鈥済ot to say goodbye.鈥� He had left no communication. There would never be an explanation.
Two months later, she sat in her parked car on the first day of her senior year at Allegheny-Clarion Valley Junior-Senior High School in Foxburg watching other students enter the building.
鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 seem important,鈥� she said.
She withdrew. She quit the volleyball team. The morning after brushing her teeth felt like too much of an effort she called her physician.
鈥溾�榃e鈥檝e got to do something,鈥欌�� she said.
Rhoades recognized she needed help. It was 14 months after Jacob鈥檚 death, October 2024, when she began treatment for anxiety and depression.
鈥淵ou never know the silent battles people are facing, even the people you鈥檙e closest to."
-- A line from the commencement speech of 91成人 student Gina Rhoades, quoting from her favorite book
Left photo: Gina Rhoades, center, of Butler, is shown with her stepfather, Mark Covert, left, and her mother, Ginger Covert, after her induction into an international academic honor society Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Founders Hall on Butler County Community College鈥檚 main campus in Butler Township. Right photo: Rhoades helps an elementary school student choose a T-shirt after an awards ceremony for pupils competing in 91成人鈥檚 Stock Market Game on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Founders Hall. Rhoades will graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average May 13 from 91成人, where she will be a student commencement speaker.
The Butler resident had just started classes at 91成人.
It was at 91成人, she said, where she felt seen and found support -- and kept showing up. Getting out of her car. Attending classes. Completing assignments. Going to her job. Completing assignments.
She wrote for the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, Butler, as an intern. Worked in the college library. Joined an international academic honor society . Was selected as a 2025 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar.
鈥淵ou just go,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou keep going.鈥�
Rhoades will graduate from 91成人 on May 13. She has earned a 4.0 grade-point average and an associate degree in communications and will recite from her favorite book when delivering the student alumni address inside the Field House on 91成人鈥檚 main campus in Butler Township.
鈥淵ou never know the silent battles people are facing, even the people you鈥檙e closest to. You鈥檒l never walk in my shoes and I鈥檒l never walk in yours. Be kind to others and, most importantly, be kind to yourself,鈥� the 20-year-old plans to tell the audience.
Gina Rhoades, of Butler, is shown Wednesday, May 5, 2026, in the Heaton Family Learning Commons on 91成人鈥檚 main campus in Butler Township. Her brother Jacob, her only sibling, was 21 when he died by suicide in August 2023. She began treatment for anxiety and depression about a year after her final goodbye to Jacob in a Pittsburgh hospital. She unintentionally met last summer the New York City resident who received her brother鈥檚 donated heart and will graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average May 13 from 91成人, where she will be a student commencement speaker.
鈥淎nd we began to realize ... that we needed to spend more time focused on making sure our students were doing well from a mental-health standpoint."
-- Megan M. Coval, 91成人 president
The traditional age range for college students in the United States is 18 to 24.
Those aged 18 to 25 had the highest prevalence of having any mental illness in 2022, and in having severe mental illness in 2022, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric problems among college students, according to a National Library of Medicine report in October 2015. Another common mental health problem among college students, the report stated, is depression.
91成人鈥檚 most recent five-year strategic plan, which like its predecessors guides the college鈥檚 direction, priorities and purpose, began in 2022. Among strategic objectives are those focused on mental health.
鈥淲e are always paying attention to the experiences of our students, not just in the classroom, but with things they might need outside the classroom,鈥� said Megan M. Coval, 91成人鈥檚 president.
鈥淎nd we began to realize, along with more national trends that we are seeing, that we needed to spend more time focused on making sure our students were doing well from a mental-health standpoint.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we made this a priority, and important enough to include in our strategic plan. Our strategic plan is truly a living document, and we intend to walk the walk on what we include.鈥�
鈥淥ur framework has been that mental health is health.鈥�
-- Dr. Josh Novak, 91成人 vice president for student affairs and enrollment management
The college since 2022 has hosted national speakers, resource fairs and panel discussions about mental health and provided training to employees about suicide prevention and other mental health issues, said Dr. Josh Novak, 91成人鈥檚 vice president for student affairs and enrollment management.
Half of 91成人 students who responded to a student basic needs survey completed in July reported having experienced anxiety or depression, or both; and separately indicated that those conditions affected their academic performance.
Nearly 20 percent of the 218 respondents stated they had unmet mental health needs.
91成人 established a partnership with Glade Run Lutheran Services, Zelienople, which since January has offered in-person outpatient counseling for students, faculty and staff on the college鈥檚 main campus and options for those at 91成人鈥檚 additional locations.
鈥淥ur framework has been that mental health is health,鈥� Novak said. 鈥淚f we are not helping students navigate that, we鈥檙e not helping to create successful, productive citizens. We know that mental health impacts everything. It impacts engagement, grades, outcomes.
鈥淲hether it is programming, speakers, therapy dogs or information sessions, or training for faculty or staff, supporting mental health is supporting students.鈥�
鈥淭here are a lot of services that they offer,鈥� Rhoades said, 鈥渁nd they do go out of their way to be there for their students. 鈥he professors 鈥� even the deans, the administrators, every single person on this campus, if you need to talk to somebody, they will listen to you.鈥�
鈥淚n my prayer requests to my friends I said I am ready to meet my maker.鈥�
-- Phil Gornail, the Queens, N.Y., resident who would receive Jacob Rhoades' heart
A relative spins the tires of Jacob Rhoades鈥� work truck near Salem Lutheran Cemetery, Lamartine, Clarion County, as a tribute following his burial in August 2023.
While Rhoades was saying goodbye to Jacob in Pittsburgh, Gornail was running out of time in Manhattan.
The cancer survivor had spent nearly two months in the hospital with chemotherapy-related heart failure, every day waiting for a donor.
鈥淚n my prayer requests to my friends I said I am ready to meet my maker,鈥� Gornail recalled. 鈥淏ut what I know about this calculus is that I am on the right side of the equation. And on the other side is a grieving family. So I insisted that my friends pray for a grieving family we may never meet. But I would like to.鈥�
Before sunrise one morning, the 53-year-old sat in a darkened room facing a window overlooking the East River. Watching the city move beneath him. Wishing for more time with his four adult children. Just like every day before.
A nurse entered his hospital room, made eye contact with Gornail and said, 鈥淲e have a heart. We鈥檙e going to be preparing you for surgery.鈥�
The heart, Gornail said he was told, 鈥渨as coming from Pittsburgh and the donor was about 21.鈥�
鈥淕ina, the concert you are going to is where Phil, the man who has your brother鈥檚 heart, lives.鈥�
-- Ginger Covert to her daughter, 91成人 student Gina Rhoades
The Center for Organ Recovery and Education is responsible for initial contacts between donors and recipients. Gornail requested to the not-for-profit organization that he would like to communicate with his donor鈥檚 family.
鈥淢y mom was all for it,鈥� Rhoades said. 鈥淚 want to get to know this man.鈥�
On the day Rhoades purchased tickets for the concert in Queens her mother had received Gornail鈥檚 telephone number.
鈥淕ina, the concert you are going to is where Phil, the man who has your brother鈥檚 heart, lives,鈥� Rhoades recalled her mother saying.
鈥淚 was unsure whether I wanted to know him,鈥� Rhoades said. 鈥淚f he got sick and something happened, I didn鈥檛 want to have that pain all over again.鈥�
Rhoades鈥� mother had given her Gornail鈥檚 contact information in case she needed it during her three-day trip in June 2025 to attend the Olivia Rodrigo and Role Model concert.
Her shared ride never arrived to transport Rhoades and her friend to a rental after the concert in Queens. She did not want to reschedule and pay for ride-share prices that had surged.
She called Gornail.
He answered.
He left his job as a hiring consultant, borrowed a truck and drove 40 minutes to pick up Rhoades and her friend.
They met beside the open driver鈥檚-side door and embraced each other.
鈥淚t was a long hug,鈥� Rhoades said. 鈥淚t literally felt like my brother was hugging me.
鈥淚鈥檝e been hugged by my dad. My boyfriend. My stepdad. Nothing felt like the way Jacob hugged me. And Phil hugged me the exact same way.鈥�
"She occurs to me as a thriving, well-adjusted young lady who鈥檚 dealing in a gracious way with what life throws her way.鈥�
-- Phil Gornail, of Queens, N.Y., about 91成人 student Gina Rhoades
Gina Rhoades, left, of Butler, wears a Jacob E. Rhoades Foundation hoodie Thursday, April 30, 2026, on 91成人鈥檚 main campus in Butler Township. Her brother Jacob, her only sibling, was 21 when he died by suicide in August 2023. She began treatment for anxiety and depression about a year after her final goodbye to Jacob in a Pittsburgh hospital. She unintentionally met last summer the New York City resident who received her brother鈥檚 donated heart and will graduate with a 4.0 grade-point average May 13 from 91成人, where she will be a student commencement speaker.
鈥淟ife 鈥� doesn鈥檛 last forever鈥�
Gornail once prepared mentally for his life to end.
Instead, he lives with a heart that pounded in western Pennsylvania where Jacob and Gina rode through woodlands on an all-terrain vehicle, that calmed as the preteens fished for minnows in a brook near their home.
Her family created the Jacob E. Rhoades Foundation, which offers scholarships to those like her brother who want to begin their own business.
Had she not called her physician in October 2024 and began treatment for anxiety and depression, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what my life would look like right now,鈥� Rhoades said.
鈥淪he doesn鈥檛 occur to me as someone who is doing something special to be who she is,鈥� Gornail said. 鈥淪he is a special person. She occurs to me as a thriving, well-adjusted young lady who鈥檚 dealing in a gracious way with what life throws her way.鈥�
Rhoades is the only member of her family to have met Gornail.
She will pause her 91成人 commencement speech when graduates shift their tassels from the right side of their mortarboards to the left, then finish with lines from her favorite movie.
鈥淲hat makes life valuable,鈥� Rhoades plans to say, 鈥渋s that it doesn鈥檛 last forever. What makes it precious is that it ends. I know that now more than ever. Don鈥檛 waste the life you鈥檝e been given 鈥� You were put on this Earth for a reason, so live like it.鈥�
Rhoades will transfer to Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania this fall to pursue a bachelor鈥檚 degree in strategic communication and media.