Brenda Jones, a public relations consultant and educator in the Comox Valley, wants to send a message to an injured Humboldt Broncos hockey player that he’s in the hearts of Vancouver Islanders this Canada Day.
She is collecting well wishes and encouraging messages on cards, postcards and kids’ drawings from the community to send to Ryan Straschnitzki, who was badly injured and paralyzed from the chest down in the April 6 accident in Saskatchewan. The team bus collided with a semi-trailer truck, which left 16 members of the Broncos family dead. Straschnitzki is one of 13 survivors and is receiving specialized therapy at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
“I want Ryan to know that he and the Broncos are in our hearts this Canada Day,” Jones said. “I’m hoping to collect a bunch of cards and messages from residents of the Comox Valley that I’ll send to the hospital to show him how much our community is pulling for him.
“Most of us can’t even imagine what it would be like to suddenly lose 16 people we care about, and experience all the emotional and physical pain Ryan and the 12 other survivors have endured. On Canada Day, especially, they deserve to know they’re still in our thoughts and prayers as they heal and move forward with their new lives.”
Jones will be at the Starbucks at 17th and Cliffe in Courtenay from 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 22 if anyone wants to drop off cards and messages of support for this brave young man. Please no money or gifts.