Philanthropist Tom Budd made his single largest donation ever: $1 million dedicated to advancing brain health care at Kelowna General Hospital.
The gift establishes the Payton & Dillon Budd Brain Health Medical Fund.
“I am trying to live a life that my sons would be proud of,” Budd, a former investment banker, said.
Both young men grappled with mental health challenges. Dillon, just 13 years old, made the decision to end his life in 2015. Two years later, his brother Payton did the same.
That underlies Budd’s recent decision.
“My boys were deeply loved. This gift, and every philanthropic commitment I have made or will ever make, is an expression of my enduring love for them, and the compassion I feel for all others who have lost a child or loved one to mental health challenges or neurological brain disorder.”
Budd said when his boys died, he knew he had to do something to create change, both in his own life and for others.
“I knew I had to do something because there were days I didn’t want to live,” he said.
“People didn’t think I’d make it and when I lost the second one there were months and months where I couldn’t even get out of bed, and I knew that in the past giving gave me a purpose. Giving made me feel good about myself, which helped me deal with my own issues.”
Knowing he had the means to do something bigger, he started the memorial fund.
“This was broader-based, and (with) the quality of the physicians here the projects… and the direction they wanted to go, I thought, ‘You know what? This is something I can do differently. I can be the first,'” he said.
The Payton & Dillon Budd Brain Health Medical Fund will provide awards and grants enabling neurologists to engage in projects and studies that aim to provide a greater understanding of how the brain works to advance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the brain.
“Brain health encompasses all of the areas of well-being the brain is responsible for, physical and mental,” KGH neurologist Dr. Daryl Wile said.
“Neurologists and specialists in this discipline focus on cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains of brain functioning. While it is frequently discussed independently, mental health is a component of brain health.”
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Budd said the gift is an investment in the future of brain health care and offers something key to healing: hope.
“Without hope, there is no path forward. My hope is that this gift will inspire others to act as well, and that by working together, we can make a real difference in this community when it comes to brain health care.”
The KGH Foundation’s $40-million ‘Closer to home than you think’ campaign launched in the spring of 2023. The campaign includes a $5-million commitment to establish a Centre of Excellence for Brain Health – a hub for training, research, innovation and leadership development in the clinical neurosciences.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention at suicideprevention.ca.
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