Five years ago the Humboldt Broncos bus crash tragedy killed 16 and injured 13 and devastated the tight-knit Saskatchewan community and the country as a whole.
I was at HuffPost Canada at the time, and we interviewed the Canadian country group The Hunter Brothers shortly after the tragedy. The band, who are from Saskatchewan, sang at some of the funerals of some victims and about a week after our interview were scheduled to perform at a tribute concert for the community of Humboldt.
They brothers graciously agreed to perform their tribute in our studio. At times like these, when you have the chance to speak honestly about values we all share in the face of tragedy — family, community, loss, hope and yes, hockey — it is a reminder how our differences don’t matter, our hearts overflow with compassion and our vast country feels less divided. The video below was one of my highlights of my time at HuffPost and was emblematic of the storytelling approach we tried to do there..
It’s a great paradox that tragedy brings us closer. Communities pull together and we realize that we need each other. I recognize that the pain never goes away, but I hope those affected by that tragic bus crash have found some peace over the past five years.
