Kieran Ebanks was the strongest person his wife ever knew.
Stacia Franz is honouring her late husband by helping to launch an organization to destigmatize mental illness and provide resources for people who may be struggling.
Check on the Strong Ones, set to launch Sept. 10 — World Suicide Prevention Day — was created as a place to find mental health resources all in one space. The website and social media accounts will allow Franz to share personal stories, show others they’re not alone and help raise awareness about mental illness and suicide.
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Stacia Franz holds the uniform of her husband Kieran Ebanks, who died by suicide in 2022. Franz is launching Check on the Strong Ones, a website and social media presence focused on preventing further tragedies. ‘If I could just save one life, I will consider this the best success of my life,’ she says.
Ebanks served as a Canada Border Services officer for more than a decade and was a volunteer firefighter and paramedic. He died by suicide at age 33 on April 25, 2022 after struggling with racism on the job and the overwhelming burden of working as a first responder during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He was doing anything he possibly could to serve the community in any way, shape or form and it brought him so much pride and joy,” Franz said Tuesday, a week before the official launch. “He was also somebody who had just a wicked sense of humour and kept people laughing, especially at work and within his volunteer roles.”
Franz and Ebanks had been together 15 years and she said he was the strongest person she will ever know. She added he was quiet, soft-spoken and a great listener who sought counselling toward the end of his life.
Since she started studying for her masters and PhD in global mental health, Franz said she’s learned how traumatic experiences first responders encounter stick with them for years and can accumulate. Ebanks’s story isn’t the only one out there, she said.
In April, Winnipeg firefighter Preston Heinbigner died by suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder from trauma he’d seen while on the job.
Tom Bilous, president of United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said although there have been positive developments in the workplace — like encouraging debriefs after difficult incidents and a peer-support program that started 20 years ago — more needs to be done.
When he became a part of the service three decades ago, there was a “suck it up, buttercup” approach, but now members are more likely to start conversations about mental health and watch out for each other.
“Sometimes firefighters are not comfortable sharing with their station captain,” Bilous said. “Until a member takes ownership and says, ‘Hey, I need to talk to somebody’ … you don’t really know. People are very good at putting on a brave front.”
There needs to be a focus on improving education, reducing stigma, and ways to access different services, Scott Wilkinson, Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service deputy chief, said.
Wilkinson said first responders may not reach out for help because they are internally judging themselves. Others may worry they won’t be promoted.
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Stacia Franz and Kieran Ebanks spent 15 years together.
“I think historically the issue has been that there’s an assumption that everyone’s just rock solid and people that are first responders just somehow naturally have this ability to deal with the stuff that they see in the field,” Wilkinson said. “Everyone’s human and they need those same supports.”
First responders often feel guilty or wonder if they could have done something differently when a colleague dies by suicide, Wilkinson said.
Franz said she will work for the rest of her life with government and organizations to create services that first responders need.
She encourages others to check in on the strongest person they know in their life, ask them how they’re really doing and give them the time and space to talk about how they’re feeling.
“If I could just save one life, I will consider this the best success of my life,” Franz said. “I can’t have Kieran back but if I can save one other person, I’d be so proud.”
jura.mcilraith@freepress.mb.ca