Brenden was an intelligent, curious, compassionate and loving son. For many years he enjoyed a very happy and healthy life pursuing his many interests and dreams, however a traumatic event 12 years ago left him afflicted with severe PTSD and major depression. He battled this illness with everything he could muster through traditional therapy, holistic therapy and had numerous medication changes, in an effort to control and defeat this debilitating condition. He had the loving support of family and friends; however, the disease overwhelmed his tremendous efforts to battle his illness and he ended his life by suicide at the age of 35.

Brenden grew up in Calgary and graduated from the University of Calgary, Haskayne School of Business in 2013. He was an entrepreneur at heart and was a principle and co-founder of two tech startup ventures, one of which was honored to receive Government of Alberta grants and "Best New Idea" recognition from entrepreneur organizations in Calgary.

Brenden's friends gave him the nickname of "B-DO" as he was always the one up for any adventure or activity. He fulfilled his dream of experiencing some of the extreme sports he had an interest in when he went on an extended trip throughout the South Pacific. He went skydiving, cave spelunking and even jumped from the 2nd highest bungee jump in the world at Nevis. He was a certified deep water diver and did many dives while in the South Pacific, including shark cage diving off the Great Barrier Reef.

Brenden always enjoyed robust debates across a wide range of topics and interests. He loved to research anything that sparked his interest, and he became very knowledgeable about these topics. Brain function was something Brenden studied in depth, always trying to understand more about its complexities and neurological functions. He always said, "the brain is so poorly understood, and there needs to be more research, so that mental illness is easier to understand and treat".

We have chosen the Mental Health Initiative for Stress and Trauma (MIST) at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute for Brenden's memorial tribute, because of his passion and quest to understand the human brain and his disease.

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