Do it for Daron DIFD

I was watching Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, and there was a heart wrenching story about former NHL player Luke Richardson's daughter Daron, with Ron McLean on the pre-game show.

Daron would've been 15 years old tomorrow on Feb 8th. But instead of celebrating her birthday, it will be spent remembering her, because Daron took her own life back in November of 2010. -How needless, and heart-wrenching it has to be for her parents, family and friends.

Those of you who have been reading my blogs for a while will know that I have written a fair bit about Mental Illness from time to time, and how it is one of the most misunderstood diseases right now. There just isn't enough research and attention to this topic, even though it is something that is become something of an epidemic, or so it seems.

You could call Daron's death a cause of mental illness, and not suicide simply because no 14 year old girl with her whole life in front of her, would choose to end it at her own hand. There has to be something that comes to play on something like this, that would make someone make such an unthinkable decision that is so very final at such a tender age.

It stems from this mental illness that is so misunderstood...

Well tomorrow is Do it For Daron Day (DIFD) and it is going to be a day to raise awareness of mental health issues, and to talk about it more openly in order to address these very important issues of our young people. People are wearing purple, which was Daron's favourite colour, in order to raise awareness for this cause.

If you are a parent of teenagers, I would hope that you would take the time to watch this videolink below about Luke Richardson talking about his daughter, and the cause they have so bravely created to prevent other families from going through this horrific, and unimaginable situation.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Video+Daron/4212329/story.html?cid=megadrop_story

The Royal Ottawa Foundation is heading this cause to raise awareness for Mental Health in our Youth. Please take the time to watch this and raise some awareness, so that this tragedy is prevented from happening to others.

The first step is talking about it, without guilt. Let's all take that first step, and stop hoping that these stories will go away on their own.

Let's make a difference. Hopefully it will change or save a loved one's life...