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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 28, 2009 - 3 Parents hope son's tragic death will serve as warning Continued from page 1 Mark's love of hockey continued to his final days, engaging in the traditional family hockey tournament during the holiday season. While many remember Mark as the hockey player, his big brother Derek, 27, remembers him as the prankster and points out that all too often he was the victim of Mark's pranks. "He was always joking around, he would always booby-trap my room when we were growing up," said Derek. "I had autographed baseballs from when the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series, and he would always place them on top of my door. The door would be slightly open and of course when I came into the room they would all fall down and one would always get me. Then I could hear him through the wall, he'd be giggling." While Mark's prank-loving nature followed him into high school, finding its way to some Holy Trinity rivals, he was also extremely serious when he wanted to be, particularly when it came to his independence. "He normally came home (from Ryerson) every other weekend and we would always ask him to tell us what time he was arriving so we could pick him up at the GO train station and he would always say, `Mom, you don't have to pick me up, it's 25 cents for the bus, I'm just going to take the bus,'" said Dorothy, Mark's mother. "He would never tell us when his train got in to make sure we wouldn't pick him up and then he'd just show up at the door." Rudy noted he was confronted by this independence on the last day of his son's life when he drove through a snowstorm to deliver a care package to Mark's Ryerson dormitory. "The first thing I got when I arrived was a lecture, `Dad why would you drive in this storm?'" said Rudy. The two chatted for a while with Mark noting that he planned to spend the night inside working on an assignment that was due on Monday. By this time the tragic events that would lead to Mark's death had already begun. Mark had become ill shortly after giving his coat to a friend during a cold walk home on New Year's Eve. The night his father visited him at Ryerson, Mark was still sick and was taking an over-the-counter headache medication to make his illness a little more bearable. Rudy's last memory of that night is of his son playing the song Don't Stop Believing by Journey on an electronic keyboard Rudy had brought with him. The music echoed throughout the halls as Rudy departed. Not long after, Mark got a knock at his door from a friend inviting him to a party. As Mark was feeling better, thanks to the medication he took, he agreed to come and soon made the mistake of combining alcohol with his headache medication. "He drank and then his friends started to notice that he was happier than normal. Mark was a happy kid, but he was trying to juggle fruit and stuff like that," said Rudy. "Then they decided they wanted to go out, but the girls needed to change, so Mark went back to his room and decided to have some more (headache medication)." At this point, Mark's friends lost track of him, but soon located him on the roof of the residence, which serves as a barbecue/picnic area most of the year. This rooftop had been a hit with Mark because, at 22 storeys, it offered a spectacular view of Toronto. Mark had even shown the view to his "People, and teenagers especially, think nothing is going to happen. I would tell Mark about something bad that had happened to someone and he'd always go, `Mom, you worry too much.' Obviously, you can never worry too much about your kids." Dorothy Friesen, Mark's mother mother during one of her visits. It was here that Mark's friends discovered him, passed out in the snow, at which point they attempted to carry him inside. "From what we understand, Mark just lost it and he just started running and they didn't know what he was going to do," said Rudy. "The next thing they knew he went over the edge." In a letter to The Oakville Beaver, Mark's brother Derek noted that Mark was not in his right state of mind and clearly was unaware of what he was doing. Mark's family is now hoping others will learn from his example and avoid combining over-the-counter medication and alcohol. "It's very frightening," said Dorothy. "People, and teenagers especially, think nothing is going to happen. I would tell Mark about something bad that had happened to someone and he'd always go, `Mom, you worry too much.' Obviously, you can never worry too much about your kids." While Mark's death brought incalculable sadness to his parents and loved ones it also showed them the compassion present in those around them, with members of the local community rallying to help where they could. For days, Derek noted, whenever so much as a snowflake fell on his parents' driveway, people would come out and shovel it for them. People also visited the Friesen home with gifts of food, flowers and sympathy cards. This outpouring of support was not limited to Oakville with Mark's Ryerson friends also paying their respects. "People have this image of cold Toronto and cold people and when we went there ...the building that Mark had fallen off of ... there was a memorial there," said Rudy. "It was amazing how many people would come up to us and they were literally crying and there were so many flowers and candles." While the community support was overwhelming, so too was Mark's funeral, which saw around 700 people attend, all united in their desire to say goodbye to a good friend. In Mark's memory, the family is attempting to create the Mark Friesen Scholarship at Ryerson University. While nothing has been finalized, the family is considering the establishment of an endowment scholarship for a student who shows the most improvement between first and second year. Anyone interested in donating money to help get the scholarship underway, should contact the Ryerson University Director of Development/Faculty of Community Services Julie Brown who can be reached at 416-9795000, ext. 7877 or jbhbrown@ryerson.ca. Callers must indicate the donation is being made in Mark Friesen's memory. Hearing aid not doing its job? · Unable to use the phone with hearing aids? · Hollow-sounding or echoing voices? · Not hearing voices well in noise? · Too much whistling? 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