Family Statement
Our family would like to thank the Jury for their service. We appreciate the time they took away from their own lives to create recommendations to prevent similar deaths.
The inquest process is far more political than it should be, – it is hard to understand how a truth finding mission can need so many publicly funded lawyers from various government agencies and ministries to argue why a witness should not be heard, or to object to the truth being told. We are very grateful to the jurors for their thoughtful and insightful questions aimed at teasing out the truth. The jurors have provided the best possible recommendations given the information that the inquest process was willing to provide them.
We are particularly grateful for the recommendations to the Ministry of Education and the Post Secondary Ministry. Every child deserves an education in CPR.
We would like to thank the lawyers from Slater and Vecchio who represented our family, not for money but because they were passionate about changing the system for the public good. Anthony Vecchio, Justin Giovannetti, Gabby Semchuk and Tracy Bank all volunteered on our behalf, and worked tirelessly sifting through thousands of documents on short notice. Much of the truth would not have been told without their help.
Since speaking out publicly, many people have reached out to us to tell us about a variety of initiatives they have launched or how they are lobbying for change. Many of these are young people. Please know that you inspire us and we appreciate you. Please keep fighting… as a community you can make a difference.
We would like to express our gratitude to the firefighters and the paramedics who responded to Sidney, and provided excellent care. Because of them we had a few days with our child before she left this earth, and because of them Sidney’s organs are helping sustain the lives of 5 people.
Lastly, our family would like to thank all the people who loved and supported Sidney in her short life, and all of the people who continue to hold us up.
In BC, someone who is unconscious and blue deserves an ambulance sent immediately whether they are seizing or not.
