Ten years ago, Lauren Dunne Astley was killed by her ex-boyfriend. Her father, Malcolm, lives with the loss every day.
"People who have been through such an experience know it's all there all the time, hanging on your shoulders," he said.
He has spent the past decade working to make people aware of domestic violence, and Friday night, the message comes to the football field at Wayland High School, where Lauren graduated.
Pamphlets will be handed out, announcements made and players for Wayland and Lincoln-Sudbury will wear purple -- the color of domestic violence awareness.
Get New England news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NECN newsletters.
Jessica Teperow led a domestic violence awareness session with the team earlier this week.
"Really, the conversation was 'How do we take the leadership skills that we develop as an athlete and on the field, and how do we apply that to being leaders, preventing violence and promoting healthy relationships?'" she said.
"Here at school, we call it being an upstander, and when you see something that's not right, to do the right thing and jump in and intervene, and that's not always the easiest thing to do," said Coach Scott Parseghian, who is also the school's health and wellness coordinator.
Local
The players in that session were struck by what they learned.
"One of the things that really stood out for me is the statistic that 1 in every 3 women, and 1 in every 5 or 6 men, will experience some form of domestic violence," said Luciano Sebastianelli.
"When one person is the abuser, their world expands while the other person's world tends to shrink," said Finn O'Driscoll.
Sean Goodfellow was struck by the secrecy surrounding domestic violence.
"All of the numbers at the end of the video, and how many people experience it, and how much of its behind doors and we don't know about it, and how we need to do something about it," he said.
Money will be raised at the game for the Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund, which seeks to raise awareness of domestic violence and promote healthy teen relationships.
