Broncos victim, survivor misidentified after crash
How it happened remains unclear. In the fog of overwhelming grief, even the unfathomable becomes possible, it seems.
Maybe it was the dyed blond hair the Humboldt Broncos players were sporting in a collective show of playoff unity. Perhaps it was the similar builds of the players involved. Maybe the damage suffered in Friday ’s bus crash made it difficult to recognize some of the young men on board. It might have been a combination of little sleep and endless tears.
Two Broncos players — one who survived Friday’s bus crash and one who died — were incorrectly identified by family and the provincial coroner. Xavier Labelle, an 18-year-old from Saskatoon, was initially identified as one of the players killed in the crash. Labelle is alive. Parker Tobin, an 18-yearold from Stony Plain, Alta., has now been identified as one of the 15 people who died.
According to a joint statement, families of Tobin and Labelle “are grieving together. They hope the focus will remain on those grieving and those recovering, not the confusion in an unimaginable tragedy.”
Isaac Labelle, Xavier’s brother, wrote Monday in a brief Facebook post of the conflicting emotions being felt. “All I can say is miracles do exist. My deepest condolences to the Tobin family,” he wrote.
The collision took place Friday at around 5 p.m. on Highway 35 about 30 kilometres north of Tisdale and near the end of the Broncos’ trip to Nipawin from Humboldt to continue their Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) semifinal playoff series against the Nipawin Hawks.
As of Monday at noon, 12 of the 14 injured remained in hospital, according to the Saskatchewan Health Authority. In a news release, the organization said four patients were in critical condition, four were in serious condition and four were in stable condition.
Ministry of Justice spokesman Drew Wilby acknowledged the difficulties faced by everyone with connections to the crash — and, in light of the incorrect identification, the families of Labelle and Tobin.
“To not be at their son’s side right from the start would be incredibly traumatic,” Wilby said of Labelle’s family.
For Tobin’s family, Wilby said, “this is not easy news for them to digest.”
Bonnie Schatz, whose son Logan was killed in the crash, expressed sorrow about the ordeal suffered by two of Logan’s teammates’ families.
“We’re feeling so bad for those families that have gone through so much already … We feel very sorry for them. I can’t imagine finding that out, for either family,” said Schatz, whose 21-year-old son played just over four seasons with the Junior A squad and was serving as team captain.
While everybody responding to the unprecedented highway disaster is “trying to do their best,” it’s clear that the Labelle and Tobin families will have a “journey (that) is going to go on longer,” Schatz said Monday from her home in Allan.
Wilby said the error was recognized Sunday. Citing privacy legislation, he would not elaborate on what new information led to the discovery of the mistake, but said “it wasn’t dental record related.” He said while the coroner’s office “believed that positive identification had been done appropriately ” and that family was involved, the error was recognized after “new information that was brought to light.”
Wilby said it’s unprecedented in Saskatchewan to have “this level of tragedy out of one incident.”
He said a “process was followed” after the crash and that the victims’ families were involved in the identification process. Wilby said he did not believe the identification was rushed.
“The families needed information, they needed information about who their loved ones were and what state they were in,” he said.
The coroner’s office is confident in the status of the list of victims, Wilby added.
He said privacy laws prevented him from providing an update on the extent of Labelle’s injuries. Labelle’s name was read as one of the victims of the crash at a vigil held Sunday in Humboldt.
Nipawin is about 265 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.
A total of 15 people died, including 10 players, the bus driver, two coaches, a volunteer statistician and a broadcaster. The vigil held Sunday in Humboldt drew thousands of people who paid their respects.
The understanding and support people are showing each other have demonstrated the tight community bonds, Wilby said.
“If I was ever in that situation, I wish I would be like that.”