A Michigan family says they believe their son died from depression because politicians canceled school hockey due to fears over the coronavirus.
Brian and Rona Dethloff say that their son, Brennan, a senior at Mona Shores High School in Muskegon, Michigan, suffered from severe depression brought on in-part by Michigan’s coronavirus restrictions.
“You could see it in his face and his body language and his demeanor that it just took it out of him. We both noticed it and did what we could, and … ultimately that night, something set him off,” the teen’s father told MLive.com. “You know, unfortunately, he chose to do what he did.”
Michigan authorities didn’t just postpone the high school hockey season once, but twice. After its first rescheduling, the high school hockey season was supposed to have started on February 1 this year, but the state pushed that off again until February 21.
The teen’s mother pleaded for families to pay close attention to their children’s response to depression sparked by the virus restrictions.
“We want people to know that they shouldn’t be ashamed of (depression and anxiety) and that they should talk about it and get help if they need the help,” Mrs. Dethloff said.
“You always think, ‘What could we have done different?’ or ‘What didn’t he have that would have helped?’ It wasn’t anything about that. It was about, he truly had a depression issue, and we helped as much as we could,” Mr. Dethloff added.
“But, at the end of the day,” he continued, “everyone on the outside thought he had everything going for him and ‘What did he have to worry about?’ So, I think that’s what the message really is: You don’t know what somebody’s going through. You don’t know everybody’s backstory.
“We want (Brennan’s) story to help shine a light on what is actually going on. … What he needed was what all these kids needed — a little bit back to normalcy and to get his life back,” the parents said.
Despite the many families that have attended “Let Them Play” rallies to urge Michigan to reopen the schools and school sports, the state’s Democrat Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, still won’t promise that the state will stick with the February 21 start date for school sports.
“It’s not about changing our mind, it’s about being smart and when the numbers support taking this next step,” Whitmer said on January 28. “We’re in a stronger position than most other states in our region and even across the country. So that is a very possible thing that may happen in the coming weeks or days.”
But in a desperate attempt to convince the gov’s office that school sports are safe, the Michigan High School Athletic Association conducted a Michigan Department of Health rapid testing pilot program that they claim found that only a tiny .2 percent of high school athletes, coaches, and support personnel testing positive for the coronavirus.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.
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