Fort St. John speed skaters speak on Tumbler Ridge tragedy

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Members of Fort St. John’s speed skating community expressed their condolences when speaking about last week’s Tumbler Ridge mass school shooting.

Speaking on CBC Radio’s West feed on Friday, February 13th, multi-time Olympic medalist Denny Morrison and Fort St. John Speed Skating Club head coach Richard Stickel expressed their reactions to the attack at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, in which nine people lost their lives and many more were injured.

Morrison, who now lives in Edmonton and spoke via Zoom, described the events of February 10th as “such a terrible tragedy.”

“It’s just such a shock,” said Morrison. “Something like that happening up in the north. [There’s a] real sense of community.

“It’s hard not to wonder what we could have done differently in the north….this type of thing doesn’t happen. It’s a terrible tragedy.”

Stickel, who was one of Morrison’s first coaches on the former outdoor oval where the Pomeroy Sport Centre currently stands, has been the head coach of the Fort St. John Speed Skating Club since 2001.

During the segment, he said young athletes he coaches are expressing “mostly just shock” at the shooting.

“People are reeling about what happened and they are just trying to deal with it,” said Stickel.

The conversation also shifted to Olympic athletes at the current winter games in Italy, where Morrison said athletes not just from the province, but around the country feel the “emotions” alongside the northeast B.C. community.

“Many athletes are from British Columbia competing with these games and from across Canada,” said Morrison. “They don’t have to be right from Tumbler Ridge.

“My brother even said [with his] two young kids, he said he doesn’t know how to react to this, because he just thinks of how scared his daughters would have been. Even though he’s a degree or two separation away, everyone’s connected, and everyone agrees with this.”

The conversation shifted to the building of the Pomeroy Sport Centre, and what training was like in the harsh northern winters before its construction, as well as Morrison’s current pursuits in medical school.

The entire interview is available on CBC’s Radio website.