April 6 marks one year since 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey organization were killed when a transport truck struck the team bus.
Kingston resident Erik Miller, like so many other Canadians, was stunned when he heard the news.
Miller says he and his family did many of the same things other Canadians did at the time. They wore hockey jerseys and left a hockey stick on their front porch to show support for the families whose lives had been forever altered.
Miller says the incident also made him think of his own life as a teenager. He says he was a competitive swimmer who spent a lot of time on a bus going from competition to competition.
“Sleeping on the bus, playing cards, had conversations — you don’t think something like that would ever happen,” he said.
Not long after the crash that left so many dead and permanently injured, Miller decided to get a tattoo memorializing the incident.
It’s taken almost a full year to complete the tattoo that covers most of his back.
Miller says it was important to him to have it finished by the first anniversary.
“The tattoo is the main logo of the Humboldt Broncos, with a heart that is shaped of hockey sticks and then for the 16 lives, I have each heart for the 16 lives.”
On the eve of the one-year anniversary, Miller says he wants the families and everyone from Humboldt to know they haven’t been forgotten and they’re not alone.