Each year our 5K honors and remembers a different person lost to suicide.
 For 2026, our honor walk/run is called
 'For #22 5K' 

 

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in honor of: Branden L. Brownrigg

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Branden was a very happy child. He had an amazing laugh that was not just an expression of happiness and delight but pure joy. His daycare wanted him to do commercials for them. He loved animals from an early age and would literally squeal with excitement whenever he saw one. He enjoyed spending time with his older brother and cousins. Being the youngest, he looked up to them and loved being part of whatever they were doing.

 

We spent quite a bit of time at the YMCA, in the pool, playing basketball, park or all the classes and sports but the day he tried hockey at the Learn To Play Hockey event at the Omni Center, he was hooked on hockey! For the next 9 years, hockey became our life. We had no idea how much we would enjoy it. The travel, hotels, hockey families, etc. were fun but watching him play was our joy.

 

At age 4 Branden discovered that dirt bikes were pretty cool. He started riding his brother’s Honda 50 (which we added training wheels to ), and we were off and riding. He enjoyed snowmobiling also but opted for us to sell those for ATVs. Music was a big part of his life. He was interested in doing some DJ work. He saved up and bought the equipment and lights which he programmed to put on a show. We are sure the coaches and hockey players over the years will never forget Branden hauling his speakers to games to hype up the locker room! He had a head for technology. He programmed all of our old devices/equipment to work with our newer devices/equipment by the time he was 11. When adapters and cords were necessary, he would figure out what was needed and have us take him to Best Buy or check Amazon to see if that existed. He loved playing “cops & robbers”. Always wanting to play the part of the cop. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his Grandpa Dawson who was a police officer for 30 years. Branden

was a sensitive soul. He despised bullying, he stood up to bullies. It hurt him to see or know about someone getting hurt in this way.

 

Of course he was looking forward to getting his driver’s license and a “real job”. He clocked over 200 hours of permit driving with us and was an excellent driver. He came to both of us to talk about organ donation when it was time to get his license. We didn’t talk about it again, we knew he would make his own decision.

 

That summer of 2023 we noticed he seemed stressed and he would talk to us a little about it. He wasn’t going to all of his summer hockey work outs and as the summer went on he started talking about not playing hockey his Junior year. This was a blow to us but we did not feel it was our decision to push him to play. When school started in September 2023 he went for 2 weeks. Then he struggled to go and told us he was feeling so anxious that he could hardly get himself to go into the building. We got him in with a medical doctor that morning and a therapist the next week. We worked with his school counselor, but then decided to get him enrolled in online school so he wouldn’t fall behind.

 

Although Branden seemed to be improving and even talked about being back in school in-person for his senior year, by December he began going downhill. The separation from classmates and teammates was not helpful. He must have said what the therapist wanted to hear because she felt he was doing well and released him from care. On Feb 26, 2024 ( 6 days after his 17th birthday) he committed suicide. Because he seemed open with us, we assumed we knew what was going on. We were wrong.

 

While Branden was on life support at Gunderson Hospital, The UW Madison Organ & Tissue Donation Team sent a couple staff members to speak to us. Turns out Branden had chosen to be a donor that year before. He was able to donate his kidneys, pancreas, liver, lungs, bone, soft tissue and his heart. 5 lives were saved and 64 other people helped. There is some comfort and peace in knowing this. We are blessed to be in touch with 4 out of 5 of the organ recipients so far.

 

We established The Branden Brownrigg Memorial Scholarship Fund in 2024. We have awarded the scholarship to 13 Avalanche Hockey Senior recipients thus far.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​