These pumpkins perished with purpose to smash stigma around mental illness

Justin Wilson was among the first in line on Mondayto smash a pumpkin to help smash mental health stigma.

The UPEI student stood on a blue tarp on the grassed commons at UPEI as he pulverized a helpless gourd with an aluminum baseball bat.

"There. That'll do it," said Wilson as he walked away.

He then pitched the bat aside, a la Jose Bautista.

50 pumpkins smashed

Wilson demolished one of about 50 pumpkins marked for smashing as part of this awareness-raising event.

"We want to get aconversation started about mental health on campus," said Amy Rix, event co-chair.

"Smashing these pumpkins reminds students weneed to smash the stigma about mental health problems," she said.

"One infive Canadian university students have dealt with a mental health problem."

Mental health awareness

Rix is one of about 40 UPEI students who belong to jack.org, a national students' group that promotes mental health awareness.

MacKenzie Produce of Stratford donated the doomed vegetables.

Many of the pumpkins were already bruised, soft or blemished.

"It puts them to good use, since they're not suitable for food," said one bat-wielding student. "And itmakes them easier to smash."

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