It’s a painful reality for Gordon Heyland, knowing he will never see his only son Danny again.
“He was my everything, I miss him so much,” he said.
“He lived every minute of his life. Enjoyed it. He had a real good sense of humour, no matter how down he was, he always had a smile.”
It has been over a week since Danny and his two friends, Kazuhiko Hayashizaki and Fuki Nishibayashi, went missing on Mission Lake in Montana.
His stepmother, Marilyn Heyland, will never forget the call they received that Sunday evening from the Glacier County’s Sheriff’s office. “I was watching the expressions on Gordon’s face and his face went kind of white and I thought, ‘oh, there’s been an accident’,” she said.
“Right now we are happy he is not laying in a bed paralyzed or whatever, he wouldn’t want to be like that.”
Danny had recently retired from his job as a psychiatric nurse, a role that allowed him to pursue his passion for helping people.
Outside of work, Danny loved to fish. His father said it gives him peace know his son was doing what he enjoyed.
Severe winter conditions has halted search efforts on Mission Lake. Until they improve, Danny’s family will have to continue to wait for his body to be recovered, so they can bring their son home.
“We have to go along with what is happening and we realize that he’s not coming back and we have to support each other,” said Marilyn.
- ‘Shock and disbelief’ after Manitoba school trustee’s Indigenous comments
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
Comments