Dwight Peel, 17, Onoway, Alberta
Dwight was a leader, a giver, not a taker. He was kind and caring to all, especially the elderly. He was a diligent student and always tried his hardest at any endeavour. Dwight was very involved in his school through Peer Support and he was also Onoway’s first male Student Union President. He achieved many awards throughout school, Honors, Citizenship and Sports Awards, all of which he was extremely proud of. Dwight was also an awesome hockey player, always a team guy. He was very strong and healthy, he was hardly ever sick. But even with all that strength, he was extremely gentle. Dwight was ready to complete his final year of high school. He was poised to move onto a successful life in whatever direction he chose. All these wonderful things that Dwight had already become and accomplished were ripped from us in the blink of an eye. On June 27th 1998, 2 days after his 17th birthday, my precious son made headlines throughout Alberta. Not because he won some select sports tournament, not because he heroically saved someone else’s life; Dwight made headlines because, contrary to saving someone’s life, Dwight’s life was horribly taken. Dwight died an ugly and violent death when a tire he was checking the pressure on at work, exploded into his beautiful face. The force of the explosion was such that it was heard throughout the town of Onoway. The force of the explosion was such that it projected Dwight against a wall ten feet away. The force of the explosion was such that it ripped my heart from my chest and blew a gaping hole into our family, that will never be fixed. Dwight’s life, all that he worked so hard to become, his hopes and dreams, gone forever because of an employer’s blatant disregard for Dwight’s safety. We lost our son and all the hopes and dreams we had for Dwight. Craig and Kevin lost their big brother and the world and our community lost an incredible spirit. All because a company chose not to care. The loss of our precious son is devastating enough but knowing how easily preventable his death was is too much to bear. We are not some third world country; this is Canada and our young people deserve guaranteed safety and security in every workplace. I pray this LifeQuilt will make some companies re-evaluate how they do things, before they add any more precious faces and pain-filled stories to another LifeQuilt. |
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17
years old
Died from a tire explosion
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