Dwayne Johnson Shares

The man known as The Rock to the world earned his nickname as a kid when he pulled his mother back from the brink of suicide.

Dwayne Johnson shared the heart-wrenching story on Instagram Thursday, in a caption for a photo of him at a gravesite for a scene in his HBO hit Ballers.

• “Not your typical scene on our comedy #ballers, as I cracked a beer open toasting my brother, William, who committed suicide,” he wrote Thursday morning. “Got me thinkin’ though bout how many of us have been affected by suicide of our friends, family. Struggle and pain is real. We’ve all been there on some level or another.”
• The 45-year-old then shared the story of his mother Ata‘s suicide attempt 30 years ago.
• “My mom tried to check out when I was 15,” he wrote. “She got outta the car on Interstate 65 in Nashville and walked into oncoming traffic. Big rigs and cars swerving outta the way not to hit her.”
• He noted that he was the one who saved his mom’s life, adding, “I grabbed her and pulled her back on the gravel shoulder of the road. What’s crazy about that suicide attempt is to this day, she has no recollection of it whatsoever. Probably best she doesn’t.”
• Johnson added that while filming the scene was a bear considering his personal connection to the issue, he believes shedding light on suicide is important.
• “We got lucky that day when I was 15 and that ain’t always the case,” he wrote.