Former NCAA champion Gabe Proctor died by suicide on Saturday, his family announced Tuesday.

“Gabe had a desperate illness from which he could find no escape—severe depression. As a result, he took his own life,” the family said in a statement. Proctor died at his parents’ home in Lyndonville, Vermont. He was 27.

In 2013, Proctor was the national champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in NCAA Division II, running for Western State Colorado University. After college, he moved to longer distances and in 2014 ran his best times: 1:02:22 for the half marathon and 2:13:45 for the marathon. He competed in the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in Los Angeles last year, where he finished in 2:31:09.

Proctor was born in Mekelle, Ethiopia. In 2000, he and his younger sister and brother were adopted by Jim and Caryl Proctor, then of South Royalton, Vermont.

“Gabe was a young man whose heart was as big as all the world,” the family said in the statement. “He was a devoted son and a loving brother. He loved children, especially his nephews and nieces. He was a very kind and generous person, who always wanted to help others. He always made a point of being kind to people whom others were rejecting. He had a deep longing to care for his extended family back in Ethiopia. His main motivation in running was to raise money that he could give away to his family.”

Proctor’s agent, Hawi Keflezighi, said the runner had just come back from Ethiopia, was rehabbing an injury, and living in Vermont with his family.

“He was very funny. Every time I spoke to him, I would laugh,” Keflezighi said. “It was the way he said things. He was fun-loving, super nice, very thoughtful, very respectful.”

A funeral service will be held at the Lyndonville United Methodist Church on Friday at 10 a.m. The family says that donations can be made in Proctor’s name to: Hope for Youth Ethiopia, PO Box 7306, Longview, Texas, 75607-7306.

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