A letter from Laura Lynes, Lake Louise Victim Services

Holidays, for many, are a time to spend with family – a reminder of how important it is to be with the people dear to us.  We even have “family day” to enforce this, but family day for Sandy Lum will be a constant reminder of the day she lost her only child, Christopher.  In 2011, 21 year old Chris and three of his friends from Ontario came to Lake Louise to celebrate their last semester of university – a trip they had planned for a very long time.  A former ski racer, ski instructor, and race official, Chris was a natural athlete. He also played rugby, soccer, swam, sailed, biked, climbed and loved canoe trips in Northern Ontario and Quebec.  But something went terribly wrong on his first run of the day.  The cause of the accident was undetermined, but Chris tragically hit a tree and died from his multiple injuries.  His three friends, in shock, ended up having a very different trip than they had anticipated, returning home the next day to attend their friend’s funeral later that week. A year later, on family day, representatives from three organizations in the Bow Valley came together to assist Sandy and her two brothers Raymond and Steven, who were very close to their nephew, finish the run at Lake Louise that Chris started and achieve the closure they needed . Representatives from Victim Services, Lake Louise Ski Patrol, and the RCMP were among those who assisted the day of the incident, accompanied the family during a touching and necessary memorial where Sandy shared details of Chris’s vibrant life.  For all involved it brought new meaning to family – for those few hours we were reminded of how we are all so connected, and how in the sharing of our stories and our time, we can help others find solitude and closure for the most tragic events.