People often mistakenly use the words empathy and sympathy interchangeably. They do however have quite different meanings.

Empathy means to put your yourself in the shoes of another. This cannot be done unless you yourself have experienced what they are going through. For example I cannot empathize with someone who is suicidal, since I have never been suicidal. I can however, empathize with someone who has had a suicide in their family since i have as well.

Sympathy on the other hand means to have feelings of sadness and compassion for the sufferings of others.