It鈥檚 been 20 years since Ray Courchesne suffered a fatal heart attack hiking Signal Mountain and while he may be gone the healing process continues for the family.聽
Every five years, the Courchesne family鈥攚ife Sylvia and daughter Liane鈥攃ome from Edmonton and Red Deer to hike the trail where Ray passed away to visit a shrine set up for him.
When they visit, the family donates bags filled with plush animals to the Jasper Victim Services Unit (JVSU) who in turn give the bears to EMS responders and other emergency responders.
The teddy bear initiative was started by Liane, who upon losing her father was visited by the Jasper Crisis Team and given a much-needed teddy bear to comfort the then 11-year-old. Since then, the family has collected teddy bears from all over the place from friends, family and well-wishers.
鈥淭his always feels good. It鈥檚 still very healing for me,鈥� Liane said. 鈥淚t made such a difference for me when I was 11-years-old and grieving. Having complete strangers be there for me and offer me support and a teddy bear was so comforting for me at the time.鈥�
Liane still has the bear鈥攁ffectionately named Ray鈥攕he was given as a little girl.
On Aug. 20, the family donated 192 stuffed animals. To date the Courchesne family has given 1,247 toys to JVSU.
鈥淚 found it hard this year. I drove into Jasper alone this year and it brought a lot of emotions,鈥� Sylvia said. 鈥淏ut I still feel this is important to do and it brings awareness to what exactly victim services can do for people.
鈥淭he program helped us a lot and we like to give back to that.鈥�
This year in order to collect more bears, Liane鈥檚 husband, Aaron Digman started a campaign at his office, Life Force Chiropractic. During the month of June, if Digman鈥檚 patients brought in a bear then they received a free chiropractic scan.
鈥淓very Father鈥檚 Day we look to do something for charity, so this year we decided to connect back to 20 years ago,鈥� Digman said. 鈥淪o many of my patients embraced the initiative and we actually found that people were buying bears in memory of their own loved ones.
鈥淚t appears to be a full circle of healing for everyone involved.鈥� 聽
JVSU co-ordinator Paul Schmidt was on hand to collect the bears at the Jasper RCMP detachment. He said the bears will all go to good homes and he is sure that they will be well loved.
鈥淎 lot of our emergency responders carry a bag of teddy bears in their vehicles just in case that little bit of comfort is needed at the scene of an emergency,鈥� Schmidt said.
Kayla Byrne [email protected]
