Wednesday, April 06, 2005
In Memory of an Ottawa Family...
IEarly yesterday morning, something terrible happened here in Ottawa. A fire took the lives of a mother and her 4 children, ages 12, 13, 14 and 20. The father was able to rescue an infant, his grandson (presumably the son of the 20 year old daughter) but could not get back into the building a second time. Firefighters revived one other adult male family member, but all of the others had succumbed to the smoke - it appeared that they attempted to get a window open as several of the children's bodies were found by the same window.
Every time I hear news coverage I have had to choke back tears as I think about this poor family and how much the victims may have suffered, and how much the survivors are now suffering - all three have severe burns and are in hospital.
When I had to go to the Law Society office today to pick up some papers, it was one block from where this fire took place, and the entire block had been closed off as they were holding a memorial service. I didn't know this family, but many others in my community did. I am glad that so many have stepped forward to show their support to them. Thousands of people showed up today for this service that a local community health centre organized.
It also was good (but also upsetting) to hear about how the school board sent social workers in to the school where the three boys had attended. The staff were there to provide support to the students and teachers who knew these kids.
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Isn't it awful? They played an interview this morning with the volleyball coach of two of the boys, he was talking about what hard workers and natural leaders they were. A horrible loss.
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