What at first glance seemed like just a day of fun at Naperville’s Frontier Skate Park, was actually a chance to bring the skateboarding community together to reflect on mental health, with a conversation led by pro skateboarders.
Skate Talk event honors Max Wijangco
John Gardner, Wes Kremer, and Brandon Turner all came together for the Skate Talk event, organized by Max’s Mission, a local nonprofit founded in honor of Max Wijangco. Max died by suicide at the age of 15 in March 2022.
His skateboard instructor, Thomas Ohm, spoke of Max’s love of the sport – and his own love of skating with Max.
“It was like skating with a friend. So I would always be excited to go skate with him and I always left better. It was just such an awesome experience,” said Ohm.
Max’s Mission aims to mirror that positive quality of Max’s, helping to support, educate, and empower those dealing with suicide loss.
Straight talk about suicide and mental health
The Skate Talk event did just that, offering everyday stress relief techniques while sharing straight talk about suicide and mental health.
“It’s capturing a group of people which might not likely listen to this message anywhere else…you know, say at a therapist’s office or in a crowded auditorium,” said Max’s mom, Jill Wijangco. “I think this is really going to be a hope-filled message with a lot of useful information, that a lot of the people in attendance might not be able to get anywhere else.”
Therapeutic benefits to skateboarding, Gardner says
The discussion on mental health was steered by Gardner, who’s given up the pro circuit to pursue a masters in social work.
“Skateboarding has taught me like everything about community. And you look anywhere in the world, you got a skateboard, you got a friend. So this is the best thing for me in my life is to teach these things through skateboarding,” said Gardner.
And the act of skating itself, Gardner says, has its own therapeutic benefits.
“There’s a lot of science that shows that forward motion and physical exercise is great at combating stress, specifically in the brain, your amygdala. When you move forward in space, it quiets the amygdala, it quiets the fear center of the brain,” said Gardner.
Skateboarding competition with cash rewards part of the event
That movement was on full display that Saturday for the other part of the event, a skateboarding competition, with a cash reward.
“There was $500 that was handed out, and that was all broken down into, it appeared to be twenties, tens, and fives. So the guys were doing trick after trick after trick and as they would do them, they would get a bill handed to them,” said Wijangco
“I would love to see more events like this, I think it’s just so helpful and so important. And the smiles are contagious – all the hype for each other landing tricks, or even just being here, and just seeing old faces, new faces, just can’t beat it,” said professional skateboarder Joe Vizzaccero.
Removing the stigma
Max’s cousin, Sofia Graven, said she was happy to see everyone come together, to both have fun, and talk about a tough topic.
“It’s a hard topic. But, especially for teenagers, people my age, Max’s age…we don’t know how to talk about it and how to bring it up. There’s so much stigma around it, and I think today is really going to help remove the stigma.”
For those struggling, Sofia had just one message.
“If you need help, please reach out.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
