Welding for Hope - Kieran's Legacy

Our son, Kieran, died by suicide on April 27, 2025 at the age of 22. He has struggled with mental health and addiction issues since he was 12 and as much as we tried everything to help him, we couldn't get the help he needed. Nobody believed him or us. Our health care system failed him and our school system failed him, they are broken and do not work effectively enough.

We are not hiding the circumstances of his death and we are not ashamed of the problems he had. We were immensely proud of Kieran, he had recently graduated from welding school, had overcome his most serious addictions and was looking forward to future travels. Not talking about how he died dishonours his memory and we will not do that. If talking can help any other family going through a similar experience or an individual battling with these thoughts, then we will talk until we can talk no longer.

He loved welding and was looking forward to starting his new career. His instructors sang his praises and he touched a lot of people in his short time at the welding school. He was truly happy there and was sad to see his time come to an end, despite being thrilled to graduate.

We can think of no better way to carry on Kieran's legacy than by providing this same opportunity to another young person. In honour of his memory we will use any donations received to help another student achieve their dream of becoming a welder at the Canadian Welding Skills Inc. trade school, who could otherwise not afford to attend. They are a private trade school that both our sons graduated from and we can't sing their praises enough. The staff and instructors at the school are phenomenal in their approach to teaching students, particularly students who don't necessarily "conform" to our school system's antiquated style of learning. Our sons excelled here proving, in our eyes at least, there is more to education than traditional classrooms and methods.

Upon graduation, students are fully ready to start welding. To highlight the exceptional job the school does in preparing students, our oldest son started welding at his first welding job, on his first day without oversight or additional guidance because of the school he went to and their stellar reputation for producing excellent welders. Other welders hired at the same time, who graduated from a publicly funded college, started by doing shop clean-up.

If we can turn this into a bursary that's granted to a deserving young person on a yearly basis, then all the better. For now, we are hoping to raise enough money to equal one tuition. Due to the suddenness of the circumstances, exact details continue to be worked out with the school. We will post updates when we have news to share.

Kieran's funeral will be held on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 but there is no deadline for donations.

We thank everyone for their support, words of comfort and the incredible help from friends and family. We couldn't go through this without you.

Thank you,

Leigh, Chris and Aidan Mauceri

Loving parents and brother of Kieran