Breaking Records, Breaking Stigma was the name of an event held yesterday afternoon by the Weyburn branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Hundreds of students and community members gathered on the soccer field behind Weyburn Comprehensive School for an assembly, prior to an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest game of Human Foosball.

Two special speakers shared at the event, Twyla Bellefleur and her adult daughter, Raquel Oberkirsch.

Oberkirsch read an award-winning slam poem she wrote earlier in life, about her mother’s struggle with Bi-Polar Disorder.

Bellefleur spoke about her realizations involving negative self-talk and her journey to self-love.

“It’s like combing your hair and showering, you have to check in with your inner dialogue and make sure you’re telling yourself positive things about yourself,” Bellefleur said. “It all starts from within, and if you love yourself like I finally do, you can share and love others, and share, and then you have the empathy for others as well.”

“We’re all here for a purpose, we’re all unique, we’re all individual. We should be celebrating that. Nobody is in this alone, We have to go through it together,” she said. “Once you manifest those good thoughts in yourself and start loving yourself, it all begins with self-love.”

“Think about that every day, check into your mental health, your inner dialogue, what you’re telling yourself, because that’s very important. Know that you’re worth it – that every one of you is worth it,” implored Bellefleur. “If you don’t have somebody telling you that every day, you have the power to tell yourself, and believe it, because it’s a science and it’s the truth.”

The CMHA required 250 people to break the world record, but only around 130 participants were on the field for the sporting event. Organizers said they will try again next year with more people to break the record for the largest game of human Foosball.

Raquel Oberkirsch gets a hug from her mother Twyla Bellefleur during the Breaking Records, Breaking Stigma event held yesterday at the soccer field behind Weyburn Comprehensive School (photo by Denis Conroy).

View the whole speech as well as the slam poem in the video by Denis Conroy here: 

To see the video of their World Record attempt click HERE.