CORNER BROOK Corner Brook continued to be a community in mourning Thursday as people expressed their grief and sadness over the death of Joshua King.
The 12-year-old son of Dean and Anna (Annmarie) King died Wednesday in a Toronto hospital.
Joshua had cystic fibrosis (CF) and in late November underwent a double lung transplant. He had been recovering well, but ended up back in hospital early in the new year.
In among the sadness on Thursday there was also a lot of happiness as people talked of a boy with a great big heart who never let his disease get him down.
Pastor Kent Sceviour is the minister of youth and Christian education at the Westside Tabernacle. He described Joshua as fun loving and happy.
“You always knew he was around,” said Sceviour of the boy he first met eight years ago.
Joshua attended the church with his uncle and aunt, Wade and Bonnie King. But the connection Sceviour had with Joshua went deeper.
Sceviour’s son Luke also has CF. He said he and his wife Jocelyn really connected with Joshua after Luke’s birth and diagnosis in 2006.
“There’s always that shared bond that we had,” said Sceviour. “And one of the things that stands out to me about Joshua is that every time I’d see him, no mater how sick he was, he’d want to know how our son was doing.”
He said Joshua was the type to always be looking after someone else. Sceviour said the outpouring of support in the wake of Joshua’s death has been great.
“I know the family is appreciative and shocked I guess by how many people that Joshua has connected with and his story has reached,” said Sceviour. “It’s amazing actually.
“I said to someone yesterday, today Corner Brook is mourning for Joshua, not just a family.”
And his story reached far outside the community.
“I’d say there were thousands of people worldwide that’ve taken Joshua upon their hearts and their minds and prayed for him and just offered support anyway that they could,” said Sceviour.
Some of that support can be seen on the Facebook page “Hope For Joshua, help the fight with Cystic Fibrosis.” The page has more than 1,000 members and the wall is filled with messages for Joshua and his family.
Joshua never made it to school this year as his condition worsened and prompted the move to Toronto where he waited for the new lungs.
He would have been a Grade 7 student at Presentation Junior High and his death was mourned there Thursday.
Principal Peter Burt said the role of the school over the last couple of days and in the coming days will be to provide support to students, teachers and parents.
To do that a team of school-based guidance counsellors, guidance counsellors from other schools, an educational psychologist from the district office, staff at Presentation and staff from Joshua’s last school, J.J. Curling, came together to help anyone who needed it.
“Today was well received,” he said of the support and dialogue that occurred.
Burt said the offering of support would continue for as long as needed.
“These times are never easy, but our role is to provide guidance and support.”
Susan Power knew Joshua from his days as a minor hockey player.
“As a parent I can only imagine what Dean and Anna are feeling, but as a person who knew this child and knows what he’s gone through,” said the president of the Corner Brook Minor Hockey Association. “This is just devastating for everybody. It’s a community that’s devastated.”
She said Joshua was a determined boy who never gave up.
When his disease took over and he couldn’t skate and keep up as well, Joshua didn’t want to give up hockey so he became a goalie.
“He never let things slow him down and he never put his disease as a reason not to challenge himself,” said Power. “If there was ever a child that taught you what being part of a team was, it was Joshua.”
Power said the association is waiting to learn more about Joshua’s funeral but already has a plan to honour him.
“As a matter of respect for Joshua this year all of our children are going to be wearing Joshua’s name on their jerseys for our provincial play. They’ll be taking Joshua with them when they go on their provincial tournaments,” said Power.
“He’s still one of us.”
