Mark Hilinski tells CF.C: I don’t want anyone to forget Tyler
COUGFANCOM
THE IDEA FOR HILINSKI’S HOPE came from the outpouring of emotion and love from Coug fans for Tyler Hilinski, dad Mark Hilinski told Cougfan.com this week in a touching interview about his son's legacy and the foundation he and his wife Kym created to bring attention to mental health among student-athletes.
“Hilinski’s Hope was really born to do two things,” said Mark. “One was to honor and remember Tyler. And the second was to destigmatize mental illness and bring to the forefront mental wellness … You don’t go from the happiest kid on the team to where he went. Tyler was very deep ... and cared not just what people thought about him, but what people were thinking and how they were doing.”
Mark said he and Kym “weren’t thinking very clearly that entire week after Tyler passed away on Jan. 16 but we kept running into people that knew Tyler and wanted to tell us how great a guy he was, and how they don’t understand it.”
The Hilinskis themselves are no closer to understanding Tyler's death than when it happened. Nobody in or around Tyler's life knew he was struggling, let alone contemplating hurting himself. Mark said he and Kym spent the days and weeks after Tyler's death asking one soul-crushing question: what did we miss?
