Kindness tempers horror of Broncos tragedy
Today, we mark the one-week point since the crash that stopped daily life on the Prairies in its tracks.
It is the longest week in Saskatchewan’s recent memory.
It seems like months — not just days — since the news broke that the Humboldt Broncos bus had been involved in a serious collision near Tisdale.
People from across Canada, and even across the world, joined residents of this province in watching for updates on what happened at that country intersection late on a Friday afternoon.
The details, when they came, were heartbreaking. Sixteen of the 29 people on the bus have died. There were critical injuries, including one young man being paralyzed. Families waited in desperation for word about their loved ones, a wait that must have been agonizing. For so many, the news they eventually received was shattering.
The number of fatalities grew from 14 to 15, and then on Wednesday to 16.
How can this many lives be gone so quickly? It seems like a tragedy of this magnitude could not unfold in such a brief span of time. And we are bracing ourselves against the thought we could lose any more of those who were injured.
It’s also hard to fathom how fast people came together to support the team, the families and the town of Humboldt. At the time of printing this column, more than $10 million had been raised through GoFundMe. This is now the largest-ever fundraiser on the site.
Everyone seems to be giving in any way they can think of to help. NHL stars poured out donations and gifts of their time to visit victims in the hospital. Women are stitching quilts, businesses donated their day’s cash receipts and the blood donation centres had to turn people away. The #putyourstickout campaign was embraced in the early days. On Thursday, people across Canada donned jerseys in memory of those who died.
On Sunday, Kaleb Rempel plans to hold a birthday party in Saskatoon with his fellow pee wee teammates from the Renegade zone. His mom wrote in to tell the StarPhoenix they will also form a circle at the beginning of their game and place stickers on their helmets to honour the Broncos. Kaleb also asked for money instead of gifts so he can donate it to a Broncos family.
How could so much kindness be shown so quickly?
We cannot and will not forget those who were lost and injured in this crash. Their stories need to be told; we need to learn about their too-short lives. It is important, too, to share the stories of generosity. It can act as food to sustain us, to nourish our depleted energy.
Mentally and emotionally, the last week has been a flatout sprint as we seek to process events that continue to unfold. We have a marathon in front of us, however, and must find a way to pace ourselves to handle what lies ahead.