A group of teachers in the small community of Devon, Alta., south of Edmonton, have banded together to support a colleague facing an unimaginable loss.
On March 30, Kelly and Stuart Maxwell lost their son Thomas, a talented musician who struggled with schizoaffective disorder.
Thomas took his own life. He was just 23 years old.
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According to colleagues, the parents worked tirelessly to help their son and had found a local program which helped the family learn how to communicate more effectively.
A group of teachers and friends of the Maxwell’s have organized a walk to help raise money for the “The Sashbear Foundation,” an organization which runs the program that helped the Maxwell family.
Tom’s Walk for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention gets underway at 1:30 p.m. at Devon’s Field of Dreams baseball park.
Participants are walking approximately 5 kilometres to the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, near the bridge where Thomas took his last breath.
Organizers hope to raise about $5,000.