For Mazina Ammar, hearing ex-goalie Cory Hirsch open up about his mental health was a powerful moment.
“Some pro athletes that are very successful, you think they have everything they need. What stood out for me was the fact that even they can have mental issues as well,” she expressed.
Hirsch spoke to an audience of over 300 people at the Arden Theatre on Tuesday. Put on by the St. Albert Community Foundation, the event focused on youth mental health.
Throughout the night, teens and adults heard from a panel of mental health advocates, as well as keynote speaker Hirsch.
Kent Davidson, president of the foundation, said he felt Hirsch brought a new element to the annual event.
“The speaker was particularly engaging,” he said. “I thought it was a really informative, engaging and moving presentation.”
Hirsch asked the audience at one point whether they had struggled with mental health or knew someone who had. Almost every hand in the audience was raised by the end of his question.
He also asked how people were feeling on a scale of one to 10. At the end, he said he was sitting at about a four.
“I think that just illustrated how prominent mental illness is, and how important it is that we address those issues societally,” said Davidson.
For 18-year-old Matt Offenberger, hearing Hirsch speak about his mental health struggles hit a familiar note. Offenberger said he’s been struggling with obsessive compulsive disorder for the past three years.
When he was diagnosed at 15 years old, he had a hard time talking to people about it.
“If you have problems, people are kind of scared of it almost. Or they want to maybe take a step back from you,” he expressed.
Hearing Hirsch speak so openly about his own mental health struggles was inspiring for Offenberger. He said it was also refreshing for his family, who has walked alongside him since his diagnoses.
“They found a lot of it interesting, especially the parts about his plan for how to deal with it, whether it's like, activity or yoga, or sleep or eating healthy kind of stuff,” he said.
Offenberger, who plays for the St. Albert midget AAA Raiders, said he wants to share his story in case it could help someone else out.
Hirsch also attended St. Albert Catholic High School and Bellerose Composite High School in the afternoon, where he spoke to roughly 1,300 students.
Erwin Lehnert, board member of the St. Albert Community Foundation, said he enjoyed watching Hirsch speak with students. He said he hopes students will understand mental health isn’t something to be ashamed of, and instead get help if they need it.
“If something's happening with yourself, and in turn (you) reach out and get help, it's a sign of strength to get help, it's not a sign of weakness,” he said.
