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Hundreds of friends and family packed his funeral Nov. 29 in Owen Sound.

“The most comforting part of this is his friends, who have come and told personal stories about Jeff,” his father said.

Tawnia Courage said several people approached her at the visitation and funeral to talk about mental illness.

“They either struggle with mental health; have a child who struggles or a family member who struggles – quite a few of them were male, too,” she said.

Jeff struggled with mental health issues for a couple years, his parents said.

He had been prescribed medication for anxiety after suffering a panic attack in the summer and had a second one a few weeks ago, they said.

His parents said their son’s death has left them with a resolve to shift the focus on preventing suicide.

“We as parents will be doing some advocating for mental health going forward,” Greg Courage said.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among young people in Canada, after accidents and preventable injuries, Statistics Canada says.

“I think the biggest thing would be focusing on the root of the issue, which is reducing the stressors,” said Isabel Tansey, who met Courage through her sorority Alpha Phi. “Whatever program you’re in, there is an enormous amount of pressure on us all the time and everyone is going through different things.

“What we realized is that you could look at someone and they look like they are completely fine and handling their program and have their life together, but there still is some crippling issue inside that no one knows about because they don’t feel comfortable talking about it.”