"Shawn. All six. All gone."
There are moments and feelings in your life you will never forget. Reading those words the early morning of Sunday, Aug. 28 are locked in my mind, and heart, likely forever.
For our community, 2022 was one marked by unspeakable tragedy and heartbreak, leaving many questions that we as reporters had to dive into head first.
Now, let me be very clear before continuing. I am in no way suggesting reporters had it worse than any of the loved ones of the six young people and/or officers lost in 2022. I'm not even slightly suggesting that.
But reporting on those tragic deaths, trying to get accurate facts out to the community, who still constantly ask for them, is very difficult.
Trying to inform the community of what the scene was like on Sunday, Aug. 28, when the six missing young people were found dead, was beyond devastating.
The inner battle of getting a photo of the makeshift memorial, as well as capturing the grief that friends and family were feeling while trying to give people space, is painful.
In one email/comment, we're told that we're reporting too much on the six young people who died, followed a few months later by the deaths of two South Simcoe police officers who were killed in the line of duty after being shot at an Alcona home. We've been told to stop being heartless news-chasers.
In another email/comment, we're blamed for covering things up when we don't report enough.
All the while, we try our best to consider the feelings of family members and friends, and can only report information that's given to us and which has been verified.
When the six young people were found dead on McKay Road following a fiery crash, I was on my last day of vacation. Early in the morning, I turned on my phone and saw a message from a friend who would have been among the first to hear the news.
"Say your prayers today. Today will be tough and today will need you to be the most compassionate journalist you’ve ever been tasked to be. I’ll pray for you today."
I typed back that I had heard there was possibly a crash involving the young people who had been reported missing and I asked if that's what they meant.
"Shawn. All six. All gone."
My heart still sinks reading those words, because in no world was that thought fathomable to any of us who had been seeing the missing persons alerts.
My phone rang shortly after and it was my editor apologizing for calling me on my day off, something he didn't need to do. We both knew there would be no days off for a while. And even months later, many questions still remain unanswered today.
Our whole BarrieToday news team got to work immediately. We got to know these kids, and they were still really kids to many. They were Haley Marin, Curtis King, Luke West, Jersey Mitchell, River Wells, and Jason Ono-O’Connor.
As a reporter, I did my best to tell the community who they were. That included going to the Spirit Catcher memorial and meeting their parents and family — not to ask questions but to offer condolences.
Being in awe of their strength and grace when they would not be blamed for having neither.
More recently, our region has lost South Simcoe police officers — Constables Devon Northrup and Morgan Russell — in an Oct. 11 shooting after they responded to a disturbance at a home in the area of 25th Sideroad and 9th Line in Innisfil, south of Barrie.
Last Tuesday, Haldimand County OPP Const. Grzegorz (Greg) Pierzchala, 28, was killed after responding to a vehicle in a ditch at the intersection of Indian Line and Concession 14, west of Hagersville. News soon came out that the young man was from Barrie.
While attending a Highway 400 overpass salute when the procession carrying those officers' bodies drives under, you can't help but look at the faces of other officers and those in the service. Older officers are sad, but have a look about them that show they will be the rock needed for others. They’ve either been here before or know all too well it is the risk of the job.
Younger officers' faces are also filled with sorrow, but that look seems to be more a mixture of there is work to be done with a bit of trepidation.
These are only the highly publicized deaths we had in 2022.
Our community is rampant with opioid-related deaths, and while some may ask why we don't report on them as often, I can assure you that we try.
On top of obvious privacy concerns of the families, there's clearly a wall of stigma and "it's just not something we've ever talked about" that is happening.
I believe, much like deaths from suicide, so long as the family wishes to speak, we need to start talking about this more.
I would say, thankfully, 2022 is gone and good riddance, but I said that about 2021 after Roberta Place, too. I never thought that, as a reporter, I would write about something as unfathomable as the 71 lives lost between Jan. 8 and Feb. 18, 2021 at the local long-term care home. In 41 days, the pandemic, seemingly unstoppable, claimed dozens of lives at the Essa Road facility.
It has been a heart-wrenching few years, to say the least.
So while it may be goodbye to 2022, as local news reporters we will be ready, filled with both curiosity and compassion for the inevitable next tragedy we will face as a community. Hopefully that day does not come too soon, because our community needs to heal. And that takes time.
Shawn Gibson is a staff reporter at BarrieToday.
