Humboldt Bronco's hockey team accident

What a horrible tragedy! May they rest in peace.
 
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How very sad.

My heart goes out to the families of the young men who lost their lives far too young.
 
Egna Spring Trophy in Italy had a moment of silence for the Broncos team before the start of the Senior Men's FS just now (Skate Canada sent a large team there).

Condolences to the everyone affected by this tragedy.
 
We see the “boys on the bus” all the time at the arena complex where my grand daughter skates. The girls complain about the stinky dressing rooms they leave behind, and we mutter about the lack of parking when there is a big hockey tournament going on. Now I wonder how many of the boys who were killed were once among those hockey players, their parents so proud of their boys, and it breaks my heart. So many boys from Edmonton and area. Just gone.
My sons both played hockey, my nephews played Junior. They all rode the bus. This hits much too close to home for so many of us. I can’t even write about it without crying.
 
The vigil last evening was incredibly moving - the arena was full, as were the overflow rooms. Some 5,000 people attended, some from far away. The population of Humboldt is about 6,000. The service was carried live on TV across the country.

And then even more sad news this morning from the Coroner's Office - a terrible mix-up. One young man identified as dead is actually being treated in hospital while another, believed to be in hospital, is actually deceased. Xavier Labelle is alive; Parker Tobin (a goalie) is dead. What their families must be going through :cry:

A GoFundMe set up by a local woman whose son played with the bantam team of the Broncos had an original goal of $100,000 to help the families and the injured - it has now exceeded $5 Million. The team management will be involved in the distribution of the funds over time and in a transparent manner. There is also a fund set up to provide long-term mental health support to the first responders and their families. Many of the fire department members who were first on the scene are volunteers who have "regular" jobs to return to today :(
 
This is so sad. These buses are supposed to be safe. Parents shouldn't have to worry if their kids will be getting off them alive.
 
Skittl1321 said:
This is so sad. These buses are supposed to be safe. Parents shouldn't have to worry if their kids will be getting off them alive.
Click to expand...

How safe can any vehicle be made?

The cause of the collision between the extended semi and the passenger bus have not yet been revealed by the RCMP investigators. While it appears that the truck may have gone through a stop sign, headed west on a secondary road, and collided with the bus headed north on the main road, and at speed (based on the amount of damage), there may have been external circumstances of a weather or mechanical nature. It is all being thoroughly investigated - the road was only reopened to traffic yesterday.

Sadly, teams traveling on buses, often not even proper passenger buses, is a fact of life, especially in rural areas. I remember doing that on a school bus in my youth many decades ago.

Although the driver of the bus was one of those killed (the front end of the bus was essentially ripped off), the driver of the truck was not injured. He was briefly detained but released and was offered counseling.
 
Skittl1321 said:
This is so sad. These buses are supposed to be safe. Parents shouldn't have to worry if their kids will be getting off them alive.
Click to expand...

Nothing is safe on winter roads in a prairie winter. Parents always worry about accidents. They worry when kids are traveling in any vehicle. In this case it wasn’t even the weather - they were t-boned by a loaded semitrailer truck. The bus was travelling on the main road and the truck blew through a stop sign at high speed. RCMP are still investigating to find out why.
 
Let me clarify, I'm aware that the bus was a (probably?) a standard bus, with all kinds of safety standards met, and it (likely) was no fault of the bus driver.

My thought was- most parents worry a ton when their children are driving. They worry less when a professional is driving. Accidents like this eat away any bit of "safe space" you think you might have. It makes a tragic situation even more tragic when they are doing the right thing by not having a ton of kid and young adults driving themselves.

When doing team sports in late high school, we did both buses and individual driving. Nearly every game we drove to- someone had an accident (there were 88 of us on my dance team, and we typically carpooled, still a lot of cars). Buses were meant to keep us safe. Any loss of life is sad, young loss of life is awful; but these kids were supposed to be safe.
 
I have no words to express my sadness. :(

Condolences to those who lost family members.

Best wishes for recovery to the injured ones.

Hiw long will the emotional scars last? Forever, I think. :()
 
Skittl1321 said:
Let me clarify, I'm aware that the bus was a (probably?) a standard bus, with all kinds of safety standards met, and it (likely) was no fault of the bus driver.

My thought was- most parents worry a ton when their children are driving. They worry less when a professional is driving. Accidents like this eat away any bit of "safe space" you think you might have. It makes a tragic situation even more tragic when they are doing the right thing by not having a ton of kid and young adults driving themselves.

When doing team sports in late high school, we did both buses and individual driving. Nearly every game we drove to- someone had an accident (there were 88 of us on my dance team, and we typically carpooled, still a lot of cars). Buses were meant to keep us safe. Any loss of life is sad, young loss of life is awful; but these kids were supposed to be safe.
Click to expand...

I understand what you are trying to say, but I can tell you from personal experience, this really is something parents here worry about, always. There is a history here. Four Junior Hockey players from another team died when the bus driver lost control on icy roads 30 years ago in another serious accident. Junior hockey players still wear patches on their helmets to remember those players. Everyone involved with hockey has always worried about it happening again. Junior teams spend a lot of time on those buses. They travel long distances every week, often on icy roads, sometimes during blizzard conditions and in severe cold temperatures through sparsely populated areas.
 
This story really gets you in the gut and the sorrow I feel is just so deep. How truly horrific.

One thing that does make me feel some gladness in this horrific situation is that this GoFundMe page has exceeded and continues to exceed, all expectations. At least the families/victims will be able to do what they need to do without some of the extra financial burden that accompanies disasters like this... and people in the far reaches of the country will feel that they have helped them in some small way.
 
I heard on the news this evening that of the 14 injured, 12 remain in hospital - 4 in critical condition; 4 in serious condition; & 4 in stable condition.

One young man was reported to have a "broken back" by his father who said he couldn't move from the waist down. He has since undergone 7 hours of surgery and may never walk again. He is determined to return to hockey, however, telling his parents he will join the sledge hockey team!
 
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I've actually had to turn the coverage off a few times, because it was making me too emotional.
I too heard that about the young man saying he will join the sledge hockey team - such courage in the face of such terrible tragedy.
 
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