After a death, Wyatt Kauth and Dorothy McElroy start anew

Wyatt Kauth was 7 years old when his dad died in 2013. It was a soul-crushing blow for a young boy who idolized his father, Dennis Kauth, one of the artists of games, books, movies and conventions for “Dungeons and Dragons.”

Wyatt, now 14, and his mom, Dorothy McElroy, started a nonprofit in the Milwaukee area in Dennis Kauth’s honor to help Wyatt through the grieving process.

Today, Wyatt and other children who have lost loved ones are slaying “dragons of grief” as part of World Wide Dragon Shooting Day, an archery event he and his mother created that has featured more than 8,000 archers from 37 states and 67 countries raising money for grief-related charities and grieving families.

“Grief needs to be talked about and dealt with,” said McElroy, who, since her husband’s death, has become a certified grief support specialist and end-of-life doula. “We want to alleviate that elephant in the room or, in this case, a huge dragon.”

Watch as they share their story as part of the Storytellers Project's show, "New Beginnings."