JARRON SILVA

"My senior year of high school I thought everything was gonna be easy and great, winter came and my little sister got sick. She was throwing up every few days and her skin turned yellow. We took her into the hospital where we found out that she had a “mass” in her pancreas, after more tests and scans they figured out that it was a rare form of pancreatic cancer where there were less than 30 cases ever recorded and my sister would be the second youngest. They had to do the Whipple procedure to remove the tumor which puts the odds of surviving at a minimum. She is alive and well now, but that is just where my journey started.

A year later, I found out I had a fully torn hip labrum and wouldn’t be playing my freshman year of baseball at UCLA. I was devastated and confused. A week later I was told my parents were separating and getting a divorce. My family was my rock, especially while I was off at UCLA I felt so helpless because I couldn’t support my sisters or mom since I was 5 hours away. 

After all of these negative things happened in the span of a year so closely together my MENtal health was suffering. I felt like I couldn’t talk to any of the guys at school because men are supposed to be seen as “strong, tough, and emotionless.” I kept my pain and suffering and worries about my sister in for almost 2 years. That was my breaking point and I knew I needed help.

I finally went to the therapist and just talked spilling out the past three years all in a span of an hour. He saved my life that day. I will say one thing, everyone is going through something, so don’t be so quick to judge, and as a man, when it comes to one’s MENtal health, always reach out to talk to someone whether it is a family member, friend, teammate or therapist."

UCLA BASEBALL

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October 05, 2021 — Teddy Sourlis