CORNER BROOK A circle of Jeff Gallant’s friends gathered together Monday to mourn the loss of their dear friend.
Jeff Gallant died Monday morning around 11:30 a.m. at Western Memorial Regional Hospital after a lengthy courageous battle with cancer.
The 24-year-old former Memorial University of Newfoundland basketball and volleyball star was determined to beat cancer, but it wasn’t a fight the mild-mannered man could win. He remained positive about his cancer right up until his final hours when immediate family members were allowed to say goodbye one at a time. His girlfriend Sarah Christopher of Corner Brook was at his side throughout the ordeal.
Longtime friends Jeff Rideout, Tara Whelan, Morgan Lockyer, Nicolle Joseph and Mason Keeping decided to hang out at Mason’s apartment Monday after hearing Jeff had lost the fight. The group have been friends with Jeff since high school and a lot of them are also very good friends with Christopher.
Rideout played basketball and volleyball with Gallant while growing up as one of his buddies.
“Heartbreaking is the only word to describe it really,” Rideout said of his initial reaction to hearing the news from Paul Christopher, Sarah’s father, shortly after his passing.
Rideout knew Gallant as a loving person who enjoyed life to the fullest.
“I was there pretty much every step of the way as well as all of his friends were,” he said. “He battled. He got some rough news a few times, but he kept battling through. Nobody could have lasted as long as he did. He was just the strongest that you could ever imagine.”
He couldn’t single out any one thing or event that stood out from his relationship with the Benoit’s Cove native because it would take him hours upon hours to provide examples, he said.
“He had a great personality and any time he came into a room you would know it because he was always joking and having fun,” he said. “He turned anyone’s frown upside down because he just had that personality that he was going to make everybody happy no matter what. He put himself second to everybody else.”
Rideout had a chance to say goodbye to his friend Sunday night.
“I got to say goodbye and told him I loved him. I told him I had to go because I had to work in the morning and that I would see him again,” he said.
Tara Whelan got to know the beauty inside the man by befriending him in high school like the others in the room. Christopher has been one of her best friends since junior high school, so Whelan was familiar with the loving and caring nature of Gallant.
She will remember him as a very popular person who embraced all the good life has to offer.
“There’s nobody else in my life that has more friends than Jeff. Jeff has more friends in more places than anyone I know,” Whelan said.
She was totally impressed with the way he fought the disease and considers him one of the strongest and bravest people she knows. His passion for life and his loyalty to his friends and family is something she will always remember.
Even with death staring him in the face, Gallant was able to make his friends feel better when they were saddened with the stark reality that awaited him.
“He used to make me feel better about it because of his strength, his spirit and positive attitude through all of this,” Whelan said.
Morgan Lockyer, a friend of Sarah since Kindergarten and a friend of Jeff since high school, was the person who called Whelan with the news of Jeff’s death.
“It’s tough, but you know he’s in a better place and he was suffering for a long time, and everybody was, but he was great and he will be hugely missed,” she said. “Sometimes life hands you hard things, but he dealt with it the best that anybody ever could. He was always positive and every single bout of bad news that he had he always faced it with a strong face.
“He knew how strong he was. He was going to fight it every time and he always did.”
Jeff’s mom, Jane Gallant of Benoit’s Cove, and his three brothers — Basil Jr., Tim and Brad — are reeling from the death of their loved one.
Basil Jr. was too distraught to do an interview when contacted Monday afternoon, but did release a statement on behalf of himself and his two brothers.
“Jeff was always willing to lend a helping hand and he loved life,” they said. “He was courageous, especially in his battle with cancer, had a competitive nature in sports and a sense of humour right to the end.
“He was a loving, caring young man with a strong sense of family and friendships.”
Cremation has taken place. The funeral for Mr. Gallant will take place Thursday 10:30 a.m. at Most Holy Redeemer Cathedral on Mount Bernard Avenue.
Very sad to hear the passing of this young man,I did not know the young man,but I have a son of the same age and certainly would be Devastating if something like that should happen,life sometimes is very short,our prayers are with the family.