Burning at Orangetheory Fitness for Derrick Jacobs; How the Community is Honoring Him One Year Later

Hearts were heavy on January 6th of 2018...but one year later, the right kinds of celebrations are in place for Derrick Jacobs

FARGO, N.D. — One year ago, Derrick Jacobs of Fargo took his own life.

Now 365 days later, friends and family are working out together to honor his memory.

KVRR’s Jessie Cohen shows us how Orangetheory is more than just a work out.

Hearts were heavy on January 6th of 2018…but one year later, the right kinds of celebrations are in place for Derrick Jacobs.

“You don’t ever know what people are going through but we do know for a fact that Derrick loved when he was here and if that’s what it is, if Orangetheory is that escape or if exercise in general or whatever it is to have that happy place it’s cool that we had so many people here in his happy place,” said Mari Hutchison, the head coach at Orangetheory Fitness in Fargo.

It was his home away from home…filled with people that felt like family.

“He would definitely feel the love and know that he was very loved and he’s missed everyday by everybody,” said Callie Ethier, who was once engaged to Derrick.

Although Derrick holds a special place in the hearts of many at OTF, he isn’t their only connection to suicide.

“But that’s that reminder. You look in the mirror and yeah you see your face and you look at your shirt, you look at your name tag and you’re like this is why I’m here today and this is who I’m burning for,” Mari said.

And that’s exactly what they did.

They pushed and pulled…

“That feeling of just your heart is burning your lungs are burning and then I just remember one of the last times I saw Derrick I was burning with him,” Mari said.

Reminding themselves that the hard work is worth it all while rehashing happy memories.

“It felt really good. It made me cry but it made me cry happy tears. It feels good to hear his name, we don’t ever want to forget about him,” Callie said.

And that isn’t the only way they are keeping his memory alive…one man wore Derrick’s monitor to keep his heart pumping right alongside theirs.

“It felt really good because his heart is always beating with us,” Callie said.

$877 was donated at the charity class for suicide prevention and awareness.

If you’d like to donate, contact Orangetheory Fargo via Facebook or visit the AFSP website.