Daron Richardson honoured at Ottawa school
Some of Daron Richardson's friends and former hockey teammates honoured her memory by selling purple bracelets and baked goods at their Ottawa high school Tuesday.
Richardson, the 14-year-old daughter of Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson, committed suicide last fall.
Since then, her family and those who were close to her are speaking up about youth mental health, and have established the Do it For Daron campaign.
At South Carleton High School in Richmond about 10 girls wore purple — Daron's favourite colour — from their heads to their fingernails, and sold bracelets adorned with Daron's name, or D.I.F.D., to raise money that will go toward preventing teenage suicide.
"She was this incredible person and everyone thought she had this amazing life, but I mean, yes, it shows that people can hide what they are feeling," said Cydney Roesler, a good friend of Daron's older sister Morgan.
Roesler said she hopes the campaign in Daron's name will ease the stigma around the topic of suicide.
"We're trying to encourage people to speak up about it and say it's OK to say you have a problem," she said.
Don't shy away from topic of teen suicide: parent
She said she thinks parents should tell their kids more about mental health.
"Kids are much more receptive to this ... parents are still scared," Watson said. "People believe that if you say it [suicide], it puts it in their heads, and that's totally not true."
The Senators are set to host a Do it For Daron night on Feb. 26 at Scotiabank Place when the Senators play the Philadelphia Flyers.