Reporter loses cancer fight

The night that a sawmill exploded in Burns Lake, B.C., killing two workers and injuring 19 others, Keven Drews was already on his way back to the office to cover the tragedy when his editor called him.

It was typical of Drews, a Canadian Press reporter who died Wednesday at the age of 45.

Drews knew it was an important story, and he jumped on the phone immediately to try to find people affected by the blast. He reached a mill employee who was still emotional from what he had witnessed.

For 40 minutes his colleagues listened to Drews interview the man, his questions followed by long stretches of silence.

“The recording of that conversation was one of the most powerful interviews I’ve ever listened to,” said Wendy Cox, former Canadian Press B.C. bureau chief who now works at The Globe and Mail.

“Keven was not afraid of the silence. He was not digging for the salacious. He was helping someone talk through a horrific experience.

“It was empathetic and it was dignified, which pretty much sums up Keven.”

Drews died after a 15-year battle with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells.

He was a devoted journalist and father whose passion for life and desire to constantly improve himself were a source of inspiration to his colleagues, family and friends.

He was diagnosed in 2003 and underwent a stem cell transplant as well as multiple rounds of radiation and chemotherapy during his lengthy battle.

Drews was always positive and grateful, said his oncologist, Dr. Donna Forrest.