PAYING IT FORWARD
Teen shines light on mental health
Paige Hamann, an accomplished point guard, is determined to provide some important assists away from the basketball court.
She wants to help people deal with mental-health issues.
And she wants to pay it forward. Hamann, a Grade 12 student at Balfour Collegiate, has dealt with anxiety and depression.
After losing her close friend Tori Hanson to suicide, Hamann nearly went down the same road before reaching out and, thankfully, receiving timely assistance.
Now in a far better place mentally, Hamann — who is entering her fourth season with the Balfour Bears senior girls basketball team — is organizing a hoops-themed fundraiser to benefit Family Service Regina and people who could not otherwise afford counselling.
“The big reason I’m doing it is just because I don’t want other people to feel the same way,” she said. “And if they do, I want them to have an outlet and someone who can help them.”
A special someone at a crucial time, in Hamann’s case, was Jamie Wingate.
A coach with Saskatchewan’s under-16 girls basketball team, Wingate provided advice and a caring ear when Hamann hit rock bottom in July 2017.
“I was with the provincial basketball team in Langley, B.C.,” Hamann said. “I hadn’t started meds yet. I was in a really bad place. I was going to commit suicide in a hotel bathroom, in the hotel where my teammates were staying.
“I was just so lonely. I just felt helpless, especially about Tori.
“I sat in the bathroom for a couple of hours. Then I was like, ‘I don’t want to feel like this anymore,’ so I texted her.”
Wingate responded instantly. She and Hamann went for a walk, which was a major step toward recovery.
“The week after I got home, I started medication,” Hamann said. “Right away, I noticed a difference and felt so much better. It was lifechanging.
“I still have bad days, but …” Dec. 13 to 15 will be great days. Meaningful days.
The Hamann-inspired fundraiser Mikans for Mental Health will take place during Balfour’s annual Fekula Classic senior girls and boys basketball tournament.
A shooting competition will take place during each halftime. Sponsors are being asked to pledge a certain amount for each basket scored or to make a flat donation. (For more information, email mikansformentalhealth@gmail. com.)
A Mikan is a drill named after NBA legend George Mikan. The routine calls for a player to shoot layups from underneath the basket, alternating between the left and right hands, for a prescribed period.
Hamann was introduced to the Mikan not long after she took up her favourite sport as a youngster. She was in Grade 1 at Douglas Park School when she joined the Regina Community Basketball Association. Her mother Donna was her first coach.
Thanks to basketball, Hamann was eventually introduced to Hanson.
Hanson, from Saskatoon, and Hamann were teammates on Saskatchewan’s under-15 girls squad in 2015. They became fast friends to the extent that Hanson confided in Hamann about mental-health issues she was experiencing.
“Tori was a person I could always count on,” Hamann said quietly, “and then she was gone.”
Hanson took her own life on May 15, 2017. She was 17 years old.
“Everyone she spoke to loved her,” said Hanson’s younger sister Abby. “She made everyone feel extremely welcome and she embraced everyone for who they were.
“Despite the fact that Tori had a constant battle going on inside her mind, she always had a smile on her face.”
Hanson suffered from severe anxiety from a very early age and took medication to control the situation.
“When she went off her meds, she did things that she wouldn’t normally do and acted without reason,” Abby said.
“Around the time when she took her own life, she was in a very good place in life. She was succeeding more than she ever had in school and in sports, she had really close friends and she and her boyfriend were doing really well.
“We didn’t find out until after she died, but for about a week she decided to go off her meds. If she had stayed on her meds, she might still be alive today.
“I know for a fact that she didn’t want to die. She had a thirst for life unlike any other person I know. So I know for certain that if she were here and able to say this for herself, it’s that taking medication or needing help isn’t something to be ashamed of.
“Helping your mind to remain healthy is not weird or strange. It’s brave.”
Hamann did not completely open up about her own situation until she returned from the basketball tournament in Langley.
“I struggled a lot,” she said. “Growing up, I was extremely outgoing and then in Grade 10, all of a sudden I had trouble talking to anyone. And that was the same year Tori died.
“I was very quiet and I didn’t talk in classes. I definitely knew something was wrong, but it was hard to handle. I lost most of my friends because I wouldn’t go out.”
And she, like Hanson, was the last person you would expect to be dealing with such an awful situation.
Hamann leaves a powerful first impression — that of a smart, funny, outgoing and compassionate person.
A smile seldom leaves her face, even during a conversation about traumatic life situations.
She is determined to tackle them head on, as evidenced by Mikans For Mental Health.
In mid-september, the idea of using basketball to raise awareness
The big reason I’m doing it is ... I don’t want other people to feel the same way. And if they do, I want them to have an outlet and someone who can help them.
and funds was formulated. Hamann’s father Tom suggested using the Mikan drill.
Everything quickly fell into place with the assistance of teammates, classmates, coaches and teachers.
“Paige’s program is really amazing,” Abby said. “Nowadays, I find that it’s extremely important that we spread mental-health awareness to help people realize that needing help doesn’t make you weird and that mental-health issues are actually a lot more common than we think.”
Mikans for Mental Health is one way to spread that message and help people.
“The big reason I wanted to do something basketball-wise is because Tori loved basketball,” Hamann said. “This is a way to continue Tori’s legacy.”