DOUG AND SANDRA RANTON (BSc ’89, Kinesiology; and BA ’88, Recreation and Leisure Studies) now spend much of their time advocating for better awareness of mental health and suicide prevention.
JACOB RANTON, star basketball player with Memorial University’s Sea-Hawks, took his own life in 2014.
When AHS alumni Doug and Sandra Ranton lost their oldest son to suicide, their world was shattered. Today, they’re determined to break the silence about youth suicide by sharing Jacob’s story as widely as possible.
Jacob Ranton was a young man who seemed to have it all: good friends, a close family, a prestigious basketball scholarship, and a plan to study business at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
But then tragedy struck. Midway through his second year, Jacob came home to Waterloo for Christmas. He wrapped gifts for his family and placed them under the tree. He hit golf balls around with his younger brother Trevor. And later that night, he borrowed his mom’s car, leaving a note saying he was going out for food.
Instead, he drove to a bridge in nearby St. Jacobs. His body was found in the Conestogo River the next day.
“He didn’t know where or how to ask for help”
Jacob’s friends and family were completely blindsided. “We learned later that he was struggling academically,” says Doug, “But he didn’t say a word. For whatever reason, he didn’t know where or how to ask for help.”
Today, Doug and Sandra are determined to honour Jacob’s memory by sharing his story, hoping it will give others the opportunity to talk about mental health and suicide.
For the past three years, the Rantons have hosted a basketball tournament in Jacob’s name, donating proceeds to the Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council. They speak publicly as often as they can. And, when they heard about the University of Waterloo’s recent mental health review and its 36 recommendations for change, they agreed to share their story with their AHS alumni family.
“Many times, after we’ve shared Jacob’s story, someone will come to us and share a story of their own,” says Sandra. “There’s power in giving people permission to open up. That’s what we want everyone to know.”
$1.2M investment in student mental-health services
It’s no secret that demand for mental-health services is rising dramatically, particularly among youth and student populations. At Waterloo, administration has been working since 2012 to increase services and make them easier to access, with some notable successes.
Nevertheless, Waterloo was also the site of two student suicides over the winter of 2017. These terrible events created a new sense of urgency for the work of an existing advisory committee, which delivered a set of recommendations in March 2018.
As part of these recommendations, the University will invest $1.2 million to increase staffing, bringing the total number of on-campus mental-health support professionals to more than 70.
AHS, particularly the School of Public Health and Health Systems, houses much of Waterloo’s expertise in mental-health research, and played a prominent role in leading these discussions. To learn more about the report, visit PAC-SMH Report and Recommendations.
“It’s okay to not be okay”
Today, four years after Jacob’s death, Doug and Sandra are slowly putting their lives back together. Their younger son Trevor is at Indiana University on a golf scholarship. Doug plans to retire from his teaching position next year. And Sandra still finds a mother’s joy in speaking Jacob’s name and reminding people he was a remarkable young man.
“Jacob’s illness overwhelmed him at a critical time, and that’s a great tragedy. But I still get to talk about him, and to share a message he never heard – that it’s okay not to be okay.”
AHS Research strength in mental health
AHS has a robust research commitment to mental health, and has been contributing valuable knowledge to the field for decades. Examples include:
Faculty member John Hirdes led development of the assessment system used province-wide since 2005 to inform care planning for every person admitted to an in-patient mental-health facility in Ontario.
John is also leading campus-wide implementation of the 36 recommendations for improved student mental health at UWaterloo.
In 2016, we recruited Mark Ferro, the Canada Research Chair in Youth Mental Health. Mark researches the link between physical and mental health in youth with chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, epilepsy and Crohn’s disease.
Professor Chris Perlman is researching how to use data to support and evaluate quality mental health care. He has developed a system to optimize the way those with mental illness and addictions can access their own health information to support their recovery.
Chris is also leading a project to monitor the impact of cannabis legalization on mental health hospital visits.
