O’Brien decathlon fundraiser a success

Jennifer O’Brien smiled as she surveyed a rain- drenched field full of kids playing Australian rules football on the weekend, a bit of sunlight starting to peek through the cloudy sky.

With 200 children taking part in the two- day event, and upwards of 400 people in attendance in total, it was a bigger turnout than O’Brien expected.

The large crowd gathered at the Springbank Park For All Seasons, taking part in the inaugural Nathan O’Brien Superhero Sports Decathlon Fundraiser, held in memory of her son.

“It’s nice to see all these kids and all the parents,” she said Saturday. “I think everybody is out here because they care. And Nathan’s spirit is here as well.”

Five- year- old Nathan and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathy Liknes, vanished from the couple’s Parkhill home last year.

Their disappearance grabbed international headlines, sparked the longest Amber Alert in Canadian history, and saw police take their search from Calgary to an acreage in rural Airdrie.

Police later announced they had enough evidence that the trio were no longer alive, and charged Douglas Garland with three counts of first- degree murder in connection with the deaths. Their bodies have not been found.

In the months following the tragedy, the Nathan O’Brien Children’s Foundation was established to carry on Nathan’s legacy and help other children, thanks to a $ 1- million donation from an American businessman.

After a charity hockey game in Nathan’s name, organizers started brainstorming a summer event that would unite Nathan’s love of sports and superheroes.

The foundation, along with Kidz First Grassroots Development Foundation, which provides sports development opportunities to kids in need, came up with the idea of a decathlon.

The event allows kids ages five to 12 develop skills in hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer and football, coached by professionals, and hold games the following day, while dressed as superheroes.

“We talked about what Nathan’s loves were — superheroes, sports, having fun with his friends — and we decided to come up with a program that we could do on an annual basis that would honour that,” said Jeff Atkinson with Kidz First.