Sam Rattan was a son, brother and friend who passed away before his time. As a child, Sam was known to be thoughtful and caring. He was bright, creative and wore his emotions on his sleeve. Sam’s sensitive and affectionate nature was contrasted with his passion for martial arts and fitness. He would go on to win medals in Taekwondo at the provincial and international level. He was pursuing his dream to represent Canada at the summer Olympics.

Sam’s life was suddenly halted due to mental illness. It robbed him of all the things we take for granted in our teenage years. Despite years of struggling with mental illness and various attempts to help him, Sam succumbed to his illness by suicide at age 23. He is survived by his mother and brother, an alumnus of UBC.

During Sam’s struggle, his family encountered an immense lack of resources and education surrounding mental illness. There continues to be a real void in our healthcare and social systems with regards to helping family and friends understand mental illness and how to help those affected. By creating a new award at UBC, his family hopes to address this issue.

Sam was always a passionate individual. One of his favourite sayings was, “live life to the fullest.” Through this award, we hope members of society affected by mental illness can be a small step closer to living their lives to the fullest potential.

In memory of Sam, the Rattan family have established the Sam Rattan Suicide Awareness Award at the UBC Faculty of Arts.

Your gift will help an outstanding graduate student who has demonstrated interest in mental health education and in developing both critical and creative responses to assist efforts to address mental health distress and suicidal ideation.