‘The impact is massive’: Kennedy recounts the Swift Current crash of ’86
Former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy says he knows a little about what the friends, family and loved ones of the Humboldt Broncos are going through after the tour bus carrying the junior hockey team fatally crashed on Friday evening.
RCMP in Saskatchewan said the collision occurred late Friday afternoon on Highway 35, about 30 kilometres north of Tisdale, Sask., near the junction of Highway 335.
After learning of Friday’s incident, Kennedy took to Twitter, asking people to be careful what information they post online.
He said the families of the team may still be looking for answers on who was injured in the crash.
“Social media wasn’t around when we had our accident, but I just remember the need (for information),” Kennedy said.
“There’s parents, there’s fans, there’s friends — all they hear that there’s a bus crash and there’s fatalities, not knowing if it’s their kid, not knowing who it is.”
It’s been more than 30 years since Dec. 30, 1986, when four of his teammates on the Swift Current Broncos were killed while the team was on their way from Swift Current to Regina, and Kennedy says he can still remember the scene vividly.
“Around that scene right now, it’s going to be eerie. I don’t know how else to put that … a real state of shock,” he said. “When people think of accidents as chaos and noisy, and it’s not like that. It was very quiet and very eerie.”
Kennedy said the players, their families, and even the first responders attending the scene, “are going to need that community and support” in the days and weeks to come.
“I know how it’s impacted the families and the teammates that were on our bus,” Kennedy said. “I think it’s a matter of just making sure that we let the first responders do their job and get the people the help they need.”
Police said the collision involved a transport truck and a bus carrying a hockey team northeast of Saskatoon, and the Nipawin Hawks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League say the crash involved the team bus of the Humboldt Broncos.
Details on how many people are dead or injured have not been released.
“It’s a horrible accident, my God. It’s very, very bad,” said Darren Opp, president of the Nipawin Hawks.
The hashtag #prayersforhumboldt was already trending online by 8 p.m. on Friday, with the Swift Current Broncos also sending out their condolences on Twitter.
“It’s tragic and you look at the first responders who show up to that, and you think of the families and obviously the team and anybody involved. The impact is massive and I think we need to keep that in mind,” Kennedy said.