Less than two days after a head-on collision claimed the lives of 7 people, a special Sunday sermon was held in hopes of bringing strength to the community.
Hundreds of friends, followers, and even some who didn’t know the victims gathered to support one another at the Family Christian Centre where one of the victims, Shannon Wheaton, once served as a Family Ministries pastor.
“While this wasn’t officially a memorial for Shannon and his family and the other victims, certainly you could feel the mourning throughout the entire room,” said Mike Allen, the MLA for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo. “It is on the top of everyone’s mind in Fort McMurray.
34 year-old Wheaton died in a crash on Highway 63 between Wandering River and Fort McMurray on Friday along with his wife, Trena, and their two-year-old son, Benjamin. Another son, three-year-old Timothy, is recovering in the hospital in Edmonton. Their northbound pick-up was struck head-on by another pick-up attempting to pass a vehicle.
Students of the pastor are working to come to grips with his death.
“I try not to think of all the negative and try and think about how he changed everyone’s lives including my own,” said 19 year-old Jonathan Higdon.
“We are all upset, but as my dad said, we’ll see him again and hopefully his son who did live will be an example of him, added his 12 year-old sister, Joelle.
One of the passengers riding in Wheaton’s pick-up truck, Courtney Penney, who was pregnant, also died. Her husband Mark is being hospitalized in Edmonton.
A family friend who worked with him, remembers the 28 year-old as a friendly and cheerful guy. She said she’s still in shock over what’s happened.
“There’s seven people gone, and it’s just too many at once,” Vanessa Humby said. “All of them were just young couples with a new family, and just loving life.”
Don Scott, the MLA for Fort McMurray-Conklin who also attended Sunday’s service, feels the deaths have devastated the entire community in which the families were great leaders.
The deaths have also sparked petitions, Facebook groups, and open letters – all calling on the Alberta government to speed up the twinning of the highway, which is known as one of Alberta’s most dangerous stretches of road.
As the two MLAs for the region, Scott and Allen both say the project is a priority for them.
“I know Don and I will both be advocating very strongly to get some timelines together,” said the MLA for Fort-McMurray-Wood Buffalo. “I know a lot of work has gone on. There’s certainly much more to do yet, but Premier Redford indicated that it is a priority, it is at the top of government agenda.”
Meanwhile, grief counselors are being made available to the community to help people deal with the most recent highway deaths.
With files from Quinn Ohler, Global News
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