Heroes

For the past month or so I have revelled in the joys of the Olympics. I jumped with joy at Crosby's amazing goal who overnight became a national hero as did Paul Henderson in 1972. I watched the brave Joanne Rochette skate through the grief she felt at losing her mom to attain a silver. I watched the snowboarder who won gold for his brother, his hero, born with Cerebral Palsey who stood on the sidelines whooping and cheering with all is might - what an emotional moment. There are so many heroes in our world.

Sadly, ths week, I watched tearfully as we said goodbye to two such heroes. Peel Constable Artem Ochakovsky, husband and father and OPP Constable Vu Pham. Pham died in a hail of bullets, leaving three little boys and a loving wife to carry on without him.

Many of us know and are close to Police Officers, Firefighters, EMS workers and Paramedics. We call on them in times of crisis, look to them for help, for answers. We expect them to be there when we need them. Many of these brave women and men live in our communities, play on our hockey teams, coach our children and get involved with the very citizens they work to protect and assist in their time of need.

Our emergency service providers live in a world where mental illness is on the rise and guns are more prevalent than ever. Many of these guns can be traced back to the U.S.A. The combination of mental instability and a weapon is a disaster waiting to happen as we have seen so many times and it is our Police Officers who face the dilemma of judging whether a person is mentally ill and dangerous.

Our lawmakers need to start getting serious about this epidemic of violence. When a beautiful young girl is killed shopping one evening on Boxing Day and another shot dead in his community school, something is terribly wrong. Where are some of these kids getting the guns they use to create the carnage we have all seen?

Our Police Officers in particular are on the front line of these tragedies everyday. Each morning when they dress and touch their weapon and head out to protect us from the bad guys, at the back of their minds must always sit the knowledge that at anytime it could all be over.

There are many heroes from all walks of life. Recently a friend called another friend to say he was in trouble and needed help. Although they hadn't see each for quite a while, the childhood bond was strong and one of these guys dropped everything and drove three hours to help the other. I consider the one who reached out for help to be a hero with tremendous courage and the other, a hero for being there for him in his time of need. That's friendship.

My Dad is my hero, having battled a brain tumour for 16 months, never complaining, always smiling, always making us laugh with his silly sense of humour and always ensuring his children knew they were loved and cared for. He will always be missed and will always be my hero.

Police Officers, Firefighters and all the workers I listed above are also my heroes. Selfless, brave, compassionate and loyal to their colleagues. Their display of support for OPP Constable Vu Pham's family is an example of how good a community can be in times of crisis. We are so very blessed to have such people looking out for us everyday. R.I.P. Constable Artem Ochakovsky and Constable Vu Pham and bless all the men and women who serve us each and every day.

Linda Grace