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Gabriel Whooley Memorial

A personal campaign sponsored by Monica Whooley

December 20, 2017

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Dear Friends:

Gabriel Whooley died suddenly and tragically on December 14, 2017 at the age of 18. A senior at Sir Francis Drake High School, he was loved by his classmates, teachers and counselors. Gabriel belongs to a large extended family that extends to Ireland, England and Australia. Gabriel was known to all as a kind and gracious being, thoughtful in his ways, meticulous in his actions. He had a curious mind; a passion for science and life. Gabriel was happy and free while camping in the mountains with his cousins, exhilarated while riding his bike with his friends, artistic and talented in his creations with rocks, wood and clay, courteous when he spoke to his teachers and counselors, earnest in his ambitions to better this wild and dangerous world. We are broken by the loss of our precious boy. May perpetual light shine upon him and all of us as we honor his life with love.

Gabriel was a normal, vibrant and healthy young man who in a moment of desperation buckled under undue stress. He had finished his college applications and was one week away from a break from studying. On the night of his death, he ate his dinner, cookies, emailed teachers and classmates, spoke to his mother about the stress he felt about the following day’s tests and said he was about to “pull his first all nighter”. He later brushed his teeth.  Somewhere between 3 and 6 am, he was overpowered by the agony of his stress and in a desperate moment could see no option other than death.  We must not put the blame for Gabriel’s death on an internal instability, addiction, or mental illness.  Gabriel was healthy and beautiful.  His death was avoidable.

As an educator herself, Monica, his mother, witnesses first hand on a day-to-day basis the enormous stress that high school and college aged students are under and is concerned that this has become the new normal.  There are a number of ways that the school system failed to support Gabriel as an individual, causing him to experience overwhelming anxiety about his academic success.  Monica’s wish is that each parent, teacher and administrator take an honest look at the imperfections and frank delusions that cause our high school and college students to suffer needlessly.