It is rarely a surprise when we find out that someone who committed suicide was suffering from depression.
But is always difficult for a parent to discuss those details and accept that they were helpless to assist with the disease.
The mother of Wade Belak, a longtime enforcer for several NHL teams addressed the issue during an interview reported in this AP coverage.
Belak, an enforcer who had played with five NHL teams before retiring in March, was found dead Wednesday in Toronto. He was 35.
Asked by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Friday if her son suffered from depression, Lorraine Belak said yes.
“I think he was taking control of that,” she said in a phone interview from Nashville. “He didn’t talk about it all the time or a lot.”
“I really don’t know how to answer that. I don’t know about depression,” she added. “I really am uncomfortable talking about that because I just don’t know enough.”
A person familiar with Belak’s death told The Associated Press on Thursday that he hanged himself at a downtown luxury hotel and condo building. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the investigation were confidential.
