TORONTO -- One year after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia took the lives of 22 people and injured three others, family members look back at a year of loss and trauma.
Jenny Kierstead, whose sister Lisa McCully was killed in the April 18 shooting in the Portapique community, is hoping community members can finally come together and grieve collectively.
鈥淭he commemorative walk has been designed to give the public an opportunity to grieve and to come together outdoors and to remember the victims of last April, and to process their grief, 鈥� she told 麻豆传媒.
Kierstead, along with other members of the Nova Scotia Remembers Legacy Society, will participate in planned memorial events on Sunday.
Restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have made it hard for communities to come together in the immediate aftermath of the mass shooting.
鈥淚 think it's been really difficult for people to do that in a community setting. And so we're hoping that people do come out and just take a quiet slow walk and contemplate and remember and grieve together,鈥� she added.
A private memorial was held for family members to attend.
For Ryan Farrington, who lost his mother Dawn Madsen and stepfather Frank Gulenchyn in the mass shooting, the people of Nova Scotia have helped carry him through the last year.
鈥淛ust the people of Nova Scotia, reaching out, they still reach out, pretty much on a daily basis,鈥� he told 麻豆传媒. 鈥淧eople I don't know, just, you know, sending their prayers and thinking of us and so that helps people move on.鈥�
Still it鈥檚 been a difficult year for Farrington.
鈥淎 year is hard because things happen like birthdays. I became a new father in the past year,鈥� he said.
While his mother and stepfather got to meet his older children from a previous marriage, Farrington and his wife had been trying for a child for sometime.
鈥淭o have another child, to have one on Dec. 1 was absolutely amazing. It's just unfortunate. You know my parents will never get to meet their new granddaughter,鈥� he said.
His wife has helped pull him through the worst of it, he said. Even when she was in labour, she kept him going.
鈥淪he always puts other people first before her, and she has been there for me through, through everything,鈥� he said.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it that much more difficult for Farrington and his family to grieve their losses. After the deaths last April he was able to go from his home of Trenton, Ont. to Nova Scotia to take care of some legal proceedings and spread ashes with his father, but has otherwise been unable to grieve with Nova Scotians in person.
He won鈥檛 be able to attend the memorial event Sunday, but a friend he鈥檚 become close with since the deaths will go in his place.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to do a Zoom or live Facebook for me so I'm able to, to be there and see it and they鈥檙e going to place a rose in place of my parents for me, and all that stuff and do the walk as well,鈥� he said.
The relationship between his mom and stepfather was a match made in Canadian heaven. Madsen and Gulenchyn met and bonded over a scratch on Galenchyn鈥檚 car, caused by a game of street hockey. Instead of being upset, he came over with tickets to a Toronto Maple Leafs game.
鈥淔rom there, they just started to date, it just flourished from there. They bought a house together and got married,鈥� said Farrington. 鈥淭he rest is history.鈥�
Farrington plans to take his family鈥檚 ashes and photos and have a private moment to say hello and talk with them before returning to the responsibilities of daily life that even grief can鈥檛 stop.
Bonnie Oliver lost her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter in the shooting and she said it was like having her heart ripped out and she still hasn鈥檛 gotten used to them being gone.
鈥淭rust me, there are mornings I still get up, put my feet on the ground and realize, I鈥檓 never going to hear from them again,鈥� she said.
Jolene Oliver, Aaron Tuck and Emily Tuck were all killed in the mass shooting last April, and the grief is still overwhelming.
鈥淥h my god, I would give anything to see them again,鈥� said Bonnie through tears. 鈥淭he fact that they left us in such a terrible manner. You know, such a horrible death, that still gives me nightmares.鈥�
For the Oliver family, it鈥檚 been their family and friends that has kept them going.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the strength of the people around me, and it鈥檚 the people around us,鈥� Tammy Oliver, daughter to Bonnie, told 麻豆传媒.
For Kierstead, she鈥檚 had to step away from the speed at which life usually moves.
鈥淚t's been really crucial for me to just take the time this year to acknowledge that there's been a really severe trauma,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd this year has been one of just gentleness, of healing.鈥�
She remembers her sister as the one who could elicit a laugh out of almost anyone.
鈥淪he was such a joker, and was just a natural entertainer and just was the life of every party,鈥� she added.
She joined the Nova Scotia Remembers Legacy Society because she was overcome with grief and she credits them with having helped her through the last year.
鈥淚 needed to dial into a vein of positivity and this Legacy Society has really been that for me and so many people and the volunteers with the Legacy Society, just their full commitment is to help heal the community and to create a better humanity and I am so grateful to everyone,鈥� she added.
It鈥檚 not over yet, an inquiry into the mass shootings continues.
Farrington鈥檚 biggest concern is that this could happen again. He鈥檚 grateful that Nova Scotia is taking the steps to regulate the sale of decommissioned police vehicles and a bill to outlaw the sale of used police vehicles, equipment and uniforms has been introduced in Nova Scotia legislature, but he wants a nationwide ban on the sale of decommissioned police vehicles.
鈥淚 don't want anybody to ever have to go through this, and I see it every day, when I'm driving back and forth to work I see these vehicles that look like police cars,鈥� he said.
