Sharing a Story of a Loved One Lost to Migraine: Danielle Byron Henry

“It was Danielle who taught me that pain can be as malignant as any cancer. More importantly, pain can metastasize, eating away the soul, and obliterating hope and the will to live.”

-Lynn Webster, M.D., family friend

 On March 24, 1999, at age 17, Danielle Byron Henry took her own life. She had lived with chronic migraine for seven years and suffered an ischaemic stroke as a result.

“When she felt well, Danielle was magic. She was the sunshine in our family,” says older sister Elizabeth. Her father Dr. Dan Henry, a family physician, now focuses on those with debilitating migraine and headache diseases. “I never want another patient to hear, ‘I have nothing to offer you.’”

In 2016, her family started the Danielle Byron Henry Migraine Foundation, which aims to reduce stigma. They have partnered with the University of Utah to start “Headache School.”  Diane, Danielle’s mother, affirms “Danielle’s life was meant to bring us to this journey…to Shine Her Light.”

Danielle’s story was originally published in the INvisible Project: Migraine & Headache 3rd Edition.

by Michaela O’Connor
Community Outreach and Communications Specialist,
U.S. Pain Foundation