John Gibson, a pastor and seminary professor from New Orleans, committed suicide on Aug. 24, having cited cheating website Ashley Madison as one of the causes. Six days after the Ashley Madison data release that outed over 30 million users of Ashley Madison, John's body was found by his wife, Christi Gibson, according to Newser.
"It was a moment that life doesn't prepare you for," she said. "I had to call my kids. How do you tell your kids that their dad is gone and that he took his own life?"
In his suicide note, Gibson talked about his demons and regrets throughout his life, such as depression and addiction. He also named Ashley Madison as one of the leading causes, CNN reported.
"He talked about depression. He talked about having his name on there, and he said he was just very, very sorry," Christi said. "What we know about him is that he poured his life into other people, and he offered grace and mercy and forgiveness to everyone else, but somehow he couldn't extend that to himself."
Christi said that John was "definitely" worried that he could have lost his job if his membership had been made public, reported Business Insider. This was a very real possibility due to the emerging of sites that allow random people to check to see if anyone they know is on the leaked Ashley Madison list.
"I still believe it could've been fixed, it could've been healed in our lives," Christi said. "These were real people, with real families, real pain and real loss. Nothing is worth the loss of a father and a husband and a friend. It just didn't merit it. It didn't merit it at all."
In addition to this suicide, police claim there have also been at least two unconfirmed suicides linked to the data breach. However, John is the first person to be widely named.
Ashley Madison did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
