An Ottawa city councillor says his gay teenaged son suffered years of bullying at school before he left his final thoughts on a blog post and committed suicide.
Jamie Hubley killed himself Friday after battling depression and harassment about being openly gay. He was 15.
His father, Allan Hubley, city councillor for Kanata-South, spoke to CTV Ottawa on Tuesday and detailed some of the hardships his son faced.
At one point three years ago, he said Jamie was assaulted on a school bus.
"Some kids held him down. They put three of those little flashlight batteries down his throat," a teary Allan Hubley recalled. "They were attempting, if not to kill him, to injure him."
The death of the Ottawa teen is once again focusing attention on the issues of homophobia, youth depression and school bullying.
Before he died, Hubley posted a farewell to his family and friends on his Tumblr feed, which he had dubbed "You can't break鈥� when you're already broken." He wrote that his personal pain was too much for him to bear and he didn't want to suffer any longer.
"Im tired of life really. Its so hard, Im sorry, I cant take it anymore," he wrote. "...Being sad is sad鈥� I'v been like this for way to long."
In a post from three weeks ago, Hubley wrote that he hated feeling like he was the only openly gay student in his school, A.Y. Jackson Secondary School in Kanata.
He also said the medications he was taking weren't working, nor was the psychological therapy.
His father said Hubley had ambitions, including as a talented figure skater. But he quit sport after being mocked for not playing hockey.
Hubley also had some support at school, particular from a guidance counselor, as well as from family and friends.
But the taunting continued. Some students called him names, like "fag," Allan Hubley said. "And he found that harmful."
Each year in Canada about 500 teenagers die from suicide.
The Hubley family is the second prominent family in Ottawa in the last year to lose a teen to suicide. Last November, 14-year-old Daron Richardson, daughter of Ottawa Senators assistant coach Luke Richardson, also killed herself after battling depression.
In the case of Jamie Hubley, his father hopes that talking about his death may do some good.
"He had dreams and we want to help those dreams come true. So if by sharing our pain that'll happen, then it's good," he said. "Our boy won't be gone in vain."
Hubley's family is asking anyone who wishes to make a donation to direct it to the Youth Mental Health Walk-in Clinic, where the teen had sought help.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Graham Richardson
