Manitouwadge Mourns
Manitouwadge High School has been open this weekend receiving students who are feeling completely overwhelmed with the greif of having lost 18 year old Jamie-Lee Hoban in a tragic vehicular accident. Manitouwadge Victim Services Volunteers were among those available to students Friday night at the High School as were staff of the High School and many parents. Saturday morning, local clergymen from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and Bethany Pentecostal Chapel joined those on hand to help grieving students and staff. Jamie-Lee’s Facebook Wall is already full of messages from the many, many people who loved her, friends and adults, it seems anyone who met Jamie, regardless of how briefly was touched by her kindness, spirit and love of laughter.
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UNOFFICIAL
Hoban a and 2 other friends were passengers in a pick-up truck travelling on the industrial road (Caramat road) driven by a 4th friend (though the names have been released locally I choose not to list them here) from Sand Lake where the annual ‘Maggot Party’ to welcome Grade 9 students to High School was to take place later that evening. The truck allegedly lost control on washboard.
UNCONFIRMED: An OPP Officer travelling on Hwy 614 received the call of the accident and while driving to respond, hit a moose with the vehicle he himself was driving. Manitouwadge paramedics raced to the accident scene on Hwy 614; meanwhile, ambulance services were called to the accident on Industrial road (again, this is unconfirmed) and so Marathon paramedics had to answer that call. Hydro was also called to the scene, needing to turn off power to the lines on Industrial road.
Jamie-Lee had allegedly already passed away when emergency services arrived at the scene.
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It is said that “God only chooses the best among us to help as angels” and this seems to be yet another sad confirmation of this statement. Many of Jamie’s friends, including my own son, were also close friends of Steven Phillipe, a wonderful young man stolen from us by a drunk driver June 21, 2009 and it is hard to understand why we must loose these beautiful children so young.
