I started listening to National Park After Dark back in May when one of my co-workers suggested the podcast to me before going on a trip to Alaska. I mentioned how I was excited to visit a few of Alaska’s great National Parks and she asked me if I had listened to the podcast.
After I listened to the first episode I was HOOKED. When my coworker told me about the podcast I assumed it was all true crime all the time. While it is classified as a true crime podcast, it is so much more than that.
Danielle and Cassie not only cover true crime stories but they also focus a lot of their episodes on the history of National Parks (and Forests), animal encounters, and natural disasters.
They also have Trail Tale episodes where listeners write in and share their experiences that are connected to the National Parks.
I highly recommend this podcast if you are a lover of the great outdoors.
Who is Ian?
When I started listening I started from the newest episode and I’m working my way back. This is usually the route I take when I take on a new podcast that has been around for a while.
I noticed that one of the hosts, Danielle, brought up the name Ian but didn’t think much of it. After listening for about a week, I realized that Ian was Danielle’s partner who passed away.
I was immediately saddened at the thought of someone that I was listening to every day at this point, was grieving the loss of a partner.
What Happened to Ian?
According to a GoFundMe account that was created by Danielle on behalf of Ian’s mom, Ian was rushed to the hospital after experiencing seizures on May 6th, 2022. Unfortunately, the hospital staff was unable to stabilize Ian and he passed away on May 8th, 2022.
On June 23rd, 2022, Danielle and Cassie released an episode titled “An Ode to Ian”. In this episode, Danielle explains that Ian was experiencing some migraines the week before his passing.
Danielle also mentioned how his death was sudden and unexpected so I think it’s safe to assume that Ian had no known underlying conditions that could have possibly attributed to his passing.
How is Danielle coping?
I just want to be completely clear that I cannot speak for Danielle.
From what I can gather, Danielle is coping in very healthy ways on the podcast, but she did mention that she really struggled with his death in the beginning, which is absolutely expected.
Before Ian’s passing, Danielle spoke often of her partner, Ian, and she continues to speak of him after his death in a few podcast episodes.
In Trail Tale episode #34, she briefly mentions how Ian visits her in her dreams and I think that is such a beautiful thing.
After listening to so many episodes, I basically feel like Cassie and Danielle and close friends, and I hope she continues to speak about her past and present experiences with Ian. If you want to know more about Ian straight from Danielle, have a listen to the podcast episode below:
The YourNextPodcast crew sends out all of our love and well wishes to Danielle while she grieves the loss of her partner.