Music: {allcanada} RYPIEN'S MOM 'OVERWHELMED' BY SUPPORT FOR CHARITY

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

{allcanada} RYPIEN'S MOM 'OVERWHELMED' BY SUPPORT FOR CHARITY

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The Vancouver Province describes how Shelley Crawford, Rick Rypien's mother, quivered with emotion as she soaked in the scene at Mayfair Lakes.

It was "beautiful," she said as she surveyed the friends and fans of the late Canucks forward who were at the Richmond golf course Tuesday to support a charity named in his honour, one that's focused on tearing down the stigmas associated with depression.

"I'm overwhelmed," said an emotional Crawford. "I'm a little leaky. I get teary-eyed when I look around here.

"I am very touched. It's been the longest and the shortest year of our lives this year.

"Ricky touched a lot of lives. We are very proud of him and continue to be. If this can help anyone else so they don't have to go through the same things, and feel that they're alone, that's what we want."

Rypien committed suicide last year after years of battling depression. The Raise-it-4-Ryp charity supports mindcheck.ca.

"A lot of positive comes from this," Crawford said. "To me, it continues his legacy. He always wanted to help people. He liked to do it on a more anonymous level, but this means the world to us."

She added, "I don't worry Ricky will ever be forgotten. I think he'd be very happy by this. He wanted people to talk about their mental health."