A tragic twist of fate brought David McClain and Jamal Jones together. Now, they are turning their grief into a safe space where men can have candid conversations about emotional recovery through their podcast Getting Back Up: Finding Life after Death.

The idea began during a childrens play date.

Jamals daughter, she had a birthday party they had just moved back from Austin, Texas, to our area in Maplewood, New Jersey, McClain told Scripps News. And it was a sense of, okay, lets have a birthday party. Lets invite people. Can we fill this out?

Jones recalled how the connection unfolded.

Then my daughter, she invited a bunch of friends and thankfully she was making friends in this new town, Jones said. And she said, Hey, by the way dad, youve got to meet my friend Milas dad, you know, yo

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