‘I’m riding with her in spirit’
Father, brother of slain St. Catharines woman take to road in her memory
It’s a long journey ahead for Rob Hood and his son, Andrew, as they make their way across Canada in memory of their daughter and sister, who lost her life three years ago in St. Catharines.
The father and son team from Kamloops, B.C. dipped their front tires in the Pacific Ocean May 17 and hope to make the roughly 6,000 km journey from Vancouver to Halifax by Aug. 17.
Hood said he had it in mind that he might make this ride at some point with his daughter, Maddie.
“I’m not riding with Maddie physically any more, but I’m riding with her in spirit,” he said.
“I’m going to share our story, how we’re making something good out of a terrible tragedy.”
Maddie Hood was found dead July 7, 2012 after firefighters responded to a fire in the basement apartment she was renting in the south end.
Her killer was later sentenced to life with no parole for 12 years.
The murder has taken a toll on the family, and this ride is one way Rob Hood feels he can try to deal with the tragedy.
“I have this desire for her not to be forgotten,” he said.
“A lot of the misfortune at the time is that all people want to know is what happened to the guy that did this. He will get publicity and be in the news for years to come.”
“When your child is murdered, basically she is forgotten.
“As a dad, I’m using this (ride) to make something good of a terrible tragedy. I’m doing this to deal with some of my own grief, that Maddie is still with me and I’m doing something in her name.”
Before her death, Maddie was working part-time with the St. Catharines and District United Way and planned to start classes at Brock University later that year.
In 2013, a fund in her name was started and the family used a portion of the money to support a young man to work parttime while going to school in St. Catharines.
“This last year, I initiated the Maddie Hood Fund West in Kamloops because it was her second home,” said Hood.
The second fund helped a summer student at the United Way of the Thompson-NicolaCariboo in B.C.
Hood feels the experience at the United Way in St. Catharines benefitted Maddie, because she said she really thought she wanted to do this.
“There’s lots of volunteer opportunities out there, but why shouldn’t we as a society and a community co-fund or pay those people to have those work experiences,” he said.
There is already enough money raised from this ride to allow him to co-fund a student again next year.
But he stressed fundraising isn’t the primary goal.
“The ride has multiple interpretations, the spirit of my daughter and what I thought she stood for and what she could have contributed to benefitting the community,” Hood said.
He expects to go through St. Catharines in early July, when he and Andrew will embark on finishing the ride.
The 63-year-old admits he’s never used social media in the past, but people can follow their journey on a Facebook page called Ridin’ with Maddie.
“If people want to come and ride a couple of kilometres and support the positive memory of Maddie, that would be great,” said Hood.
Maddie’s mom, Colleen Hood, lives in Niagara and said she will be putting up the riders when they come through the area.
“This is something that Rob dreamed of doing with one or both of his children. I think it’s a bit of a quest for him, helping him to do something meaningful with the loss of Maddie,” she said.
“One of the hardest things for a parent who has lost a child is to think that that child no longer exists. Maddie was a really strong girl who was committed to issues of social justice, so to let her live on in some form of legacy is very important to Rob and Andrew and I.
“I imagine there will be quite a few people that may want to ride a portion of the ride with him,” she said.
“We’ve all had to try to make sense of what happened to a person who was so innocent in so many ways.
“Her loss was enormous to us.”