William Wan, Washington Post

William Wan

Washington Post

Washington, DC, United States

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Recent:
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Past:
  • Washington Post
  • ScienceAlert

Past articles by William:

She lost her twin to suicide. A midnight walk helps her keep living.

Chloe Stevens struggled with suicidal thoughts after her brother's death. She uses an overnight suicide prevention walk to turn her pain into purpose. → Read More

She survived a White House lightning strike. Could she survive what came next?

The lightning fried Amber Escudero-Kontostathis’s nerves, melted her skin and stopped her heart. But the lone survivor tells herself, “I’m the lucky one.” → Read More

Yale accused of discriminating against students with mental illness

Yale students and alumni allege that the university pressures those who are suicidal or struggling with mental health problems to withdraw → Read More

How a U-Va. class trip ended in gunfire and death: ‘Get off the bus!’

A witness reveals new details about the shooting Sunday that left three University of Virginia football players dead. → Read More

‘What if Yale finds out?’

At Yale, suicidal students are pressured to withdraw, then must apply to get back into the university -- an approach under increasing attack from mental health activists and alumni → Read More

An autistic teen needed mental health help. He spent weeks in an ER instead.

Zach Chafos languished for a total of 76 days in a Maryland ER waiting for a psychiatric bed -- part of a growing mental health treatment crisis for teens across the country → Read More

A suicidal son, an iconic bridge and the struggle to keep people from jumping

Dozens of people have jumped to their deaths from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge since it opened in 1952. Could Cheryl Rogers keep her son from becoming one of them? → Read More

Catholics in D.C. mourn loss of Latin Mass after decree bans practice

Saint Mary Mother of God Parish in D.C.’s Chinatown was told that by Sept. 21, it was to cease use of Latin rituals. → Read More

‘Is this what a good mother looks like?’

After struggling to get treatment for her mentally ill son, a mother’s act of desperation: giving up custody. → Read More

Two victims identified in fatal shooting in Southwest Washington

A third man was fatally shot Friday night in Northeast, police said. → Read More

A doctor struggled with a rare, incurable syndrome. Now she helps others overcome it.

Patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome are often misdiagnosed or dismissed as hypochondriacs. That’s what happened to Dr. Alissa Zingman. → Read More

Covid killed her disabled brother, paralyzing her with guilt. Could she recover?

Jeneffer Estampador Haynes always tried to protect her younger brother, John, who had Down syndrome. Then she lost him to the pandemic and lost herself, too. → Read More

Two shootings leave three dead in Washington

Deadly gun violence Saturday night in Northwest D.C. was followed hours later by another incident in Southeast. → Read More

To escape Afghanistan, these brothers were forced to choose whose family to save

After dodging bullets, bombs and Taliban fighters, Afghan evacuees now must live with choices they made amid the chaos. → Read More

He took his wife and kids to Afghanistan one last time. Now he can’t get them out.

Mohammad Sadeed is back in Philadelphia, but his wife and five children are trapped in Kabul, where the Afghan immigrants could be deemed traitors by the Taliban. → Read More

Haiti’s long, terrible history of earthquakes and disaster

Even before Saturday’s earthquake, Haiti was already reeling from crises following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse last month. → Read More

Covid killed her husband. Now it’s taking the only home her kids have ever known.

The death of Lisa Grim’s 37-year-old husband not only devastated her and her two sons emotionally, it has broken them financially → Read More

Senators join effort to create a covid memorial day for 614,000 pandemic victims

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who lost her older brother to covid-19, is sponsoring a bill in the Senate to create a national day of remembrance for those lost during the pandemic. → Read More

Grieving families asked Congress to recognize covid’s victims. It didn’t go well.

Families want a national covid remembrance day, but turning their grief into political power is proving difficult. → Read More

Biden announces $7.4 billion to hire more public health workers amid pandemic

After decades of chronic underfunding, U.S. public health departments last year showed how ill-equipped they are to carry out basic functions, let alone serve as the last line of defense against a pandemic. → Read More