Saint Louis University swimmer Sean North (Courtesy: SLU Athletics)
Saint Louis University swimmer Sean North died on April 5. According to an email sent by to the student body by the school’s administration, the cause of death was suicide.
North was 20 years old.
“Right now, our focus is on wrapping his loved ones with support,” SLU’s email said. “Know that we share this information so we can help each other heal. We cannot destigmatize death by suicide, ideation or mental-health needs more broadly if we cannot name them.”
North was a sophomore on the Saint Louis University swimming & diving team. As a freshman, he was a member of SLU’s Atlantic 10 Conference Championship team, where he finished 25th in the 500 free, 30th in the 100 fly, 26th in the 100 fly, and swam a leg on the school’s 7th-place 200 medley relay.
He was also named a member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
A native of Leawood, Kansas, he attended Blue Valley North High School where as a junior, he was named a NISCA All-American. In 2020, he was the Kansas High School 6A runner-up in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyles.
North swam his last meet for SLU on January 22nd in a dual against nearby UMSL.
North’s death is one of several suicides on St. Louis University’s campus during this academic term. The school faced two student suicides in less than two weeks in the fall. Two other deaths of individuals on campus, a graduate student and a resident physician, were also announced in early April, with no cause of death attached.
According to the American College Health Association, suicide rates among 15-24 year olds have risen by 51% over the last decade. A 2010 study by Johns Hopkins and the University of South Carolina found that roughly 1,100 college students die by suicide every year, which is the second-leading cause of death among college students.
Unfortunately, we as a society have to do a very deep analysis of the negative impact of social media on this young generation. The mental health problem has been on the raise, one significant factor is the lack of personal social tools to manage stress and anxiety, compounded with the academic and athletic rigors of being a student athlete. My sincere condolences to the family.
What is so bad these kids feel the need to die?
Could be any number of number of reasons, but the issue is that he, and many other athletes, felt they needed to hide it from people.
This “1,100 college students die by suicide every year” looks extremely high! And it looks unbelievably and gruesomely high if it’s every year in US only, not worldwide! Would you please share a link to this study?
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20471691/
I looked around for that number and it led down a rabbit hole to a study in the early 2000s, so it’s probably very out of date.
There are around 20 million college students in the US. In 2019, the suicide rate for people aged 15-24 was around 14 per 100,000 per year. Given that, we would actually expect the number in the US to be closer to 2,800.
Source on rate: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide
Source on college students number: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/search/ViewTable?tableId=29448
Actually, according to the link you provided the suicide rate in that age group for 2019 was 27.5 per 100,000.
Shame on you for that comment
What an uncaring comment, to even imply blame by a personal choice Completely inappropriate, and have you read about the post-Covid depression and suicides?
I am devastated and I don’t even know him. Love to all who knew him.
So sorry to hear this happen. I met him along with a bunch of other guys while I was at SLU for my recruiting trip this is terrible to hear this. To the SLU swim and dive team I’m deeply sorry for your guys’ loss.
I swam for the billikens 1000 years ago…..er…..1978…….how very sad…….we all need family and loved ones……bad times don’t last……let people know their loved and needed……….