Anniversary of bus crash affected by pandemic
Two years in, and it’s quiet. Scott Thomas feels the solitude of a pandemic today rolls up, exactly two years after the Humboldt Broncos’ bus collided with a semi at a Saskatchewan intersection, killing 16 people.
“It may be because we’re stuck in isolation; got a lot more time to think. We’re all out of our routines and stuck in our house — but this one’s a lot more sombre (than the first anniversary),” says Thomas, whose son Evan Thomas died in that collision on the evening of April 6, 2018.
The first-year anniversary carried its own stresses and apprehensions, along with a sense of community. Broncos families mingled with the public in a memorial at Humboldt’s hockey arena, with hugs, tears, heartfelt speeches, cameras and lights. A television audience watched.
They’re two years in now, and it’s different.
“It’s just kind of where I’m at in my healing process,” Thomas said. “It feels pretty real now. He’s not coming home, you know? We’re not going to have supper with him. Things like that are really hitting home now. That first year, you’re just trying to deal with so many things. You’re dealing with estates ... everything. And now, all that’s dealt with. It’s just our family: ‘Remember when we did this? Remember when we did that?’ In some ways, this one’s harder.” He paused.
“In a lot of ways, it’s harder.” But even with everybody hunkering down, Thomas said he still feels loved by those both in and out of his inner circle. He expects, on Monday, that Broncos families will receive support like they have ever since that tragic night two years ago. It just won’t have the face-to-face, hand-in-hand component.
“On April 6, I know my phone’s going to be blowing up with messages from all kinds of people, from all across Canada,” he said.
“It definitely warms our hearts, because I know people are still keeping us in their thoughts, especially on a day like that. We’re going to hear from so many Canadians, and that helps, to know how this affected everybody. We contacted Ron Maclean about signing this jersey (for a charitable fundraiser in their son’s name), and he didn’t hesitate — ‘Absolutely, send it out’ — and he sent it back with a beautiful message on it. This still rips up everybody’s heart in Canada, and I know (April 6) is going to be bittersweet.”
The City of Humboldt has prepared a virtual tribute at humboldt.ca/tribute, with an online guest book. The bells at St. Augustine Catholic Church will toll at 4:50 p.m., the approximate time of the crash, viewable via live video on Humboldt’s Facebook page. They encourage citizens to observe a moment of silence after that.
As families drift — or try to drift — toward some sense of normalcy, many have used their platforms to support a variety of causes: blood donation, organ donation, player, youth and leadership development, seat belts on buses, trucking safety.
In Saskatoon, peewee hockey players and bantam baseball players both suit up in tournaments named after Evan Thomas, with proceeds going into a memorial trust and distributed to various worthy causes.
The Evan Thomas Memorial Hockey Day would have been held April 11 if COVID-19 hadn’t happened. There would have been a hockey game for friends and family, and another for anybody who played with and against Thomas, followed by a social with a silent auction.
The Evan Thomas trust gave away $21,000 last year, split seven ways, $3,000 to each cause — to the Kinsmen Inner City Hockey League, for example; to the rehab unit at Saskatoon City Hospital; to Saskatoon Minor Hockey, helping to provide bursaries for kids whose families can’t afford the fees.
This year, they want to make STARS air ambulance one of their recipients — Thomas credits them with saving some Broncos players on the night of the crash — but COVID-19 complicates fundraising.
So all Thomas can do at this point is hope, and remember.