Anniversary of team bus crash was a solemn affair
Legacy means having hope, said Celeste Leray-leicht.
“Hope that those no longer here will never be forgotten,” said Leray-leicht, whose son Jacob Leicht was among the 16 people killed in the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy. Hope, she continued, that those who survived “will be able to carry on.”
It was an enduring message shared with supporters who followed from afar or who made the trip to Elgar Petersen Arena, in the tight-knit Saskatchewan community, to attend the memorial service one year to the day of the April 6, 2018 bus crash that captured attention, hearts and minds globally.
April 6, 2019, according to Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench, was “a chance to get together as a community, with the families, and go through what can be described as the last of the firsts.”
There were first birthdays. Holidays. Christmas. Anniversaries.
The memorial service included a moment of silence at 4:50 p.m. — the exact time of the deadly crash. On display in the arena were rows of yellow banners with the names of all 29 people who were on the bus. During the service, candles were lit for each of them. Many more placed flowers, hockey sticks, plaques and handmade cards at the site of the crash.
The one-year anniversary of the tragedy, Muench said, would give everyone a chance “to regroup and keep moving forward.” The mayor said the coming days and weeks would give the community an opportunity to take “a bit of a sigh of relief that the first year is over with.”
The collision happened at the intersection of Highways 35 and 335 as the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team was heading to Nipawin for a playoff game. Sixteen people died and 13 others were injured after the team’s bus collided with a semi driven by Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, a novice trucker who had blown a stop sign at the rural intersection.
The one-year memorial took place the month after Sidhu was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to 16 counts of dangerous driving causing death and 13 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm. The Saskatchewan judge overseeing the sentencing called the mistakes made by Sidhu “baffling and incomprehensible.”
On the February day he pleaded guilty, Sidhu, 30, stood in the Saskatchewan courtroom and addressed those most directly affected by the crash.
“I can’t even imagine what you are going through, what you have been through. I’ve taken the most valuable things of your life,” he said. “I am so, so, so, so, so sorry about this pain.”
Broncos assistant coach Chris Beaudry read the last victim impact statement, telling Sidhu he forgives him.
“Don’t let your life be wasted,”
Beaudry said, addressing Sidhu. “Be compassionate, love, and most importantly, forgive others the way we’ve forgiven you.”
The anniversary service wasn’t going to mean the end of the support and love shown to those on the bus and their family members, Muench said. But it would provide a chance for the community to take “a bit of a sigh of relief that the first year is over with.”