Obituary: The medic of Moccasin Flats
And a 30 year old cold case in Ontario is linked to Quesnel
I’m keeping today’s newsletter short in part so you can spend some time reading this really lovely obituary by Ted Clarke in the Prince George Citizen for Hank Hayden, a former bartender, counsellor and industrial medic who spent the last two and half years living in Moccasin Flats, where he attended to overdoses, bullet wounds and other injuries for people who might not otherwise have gotten help. A sample:
On some days he’d have as many five overdose victims to deal with and some of those people he brought back three or four times in the same week.
“He couldn’t do drugs, he was too busy saving people and I tried to explain to him, ‘you’ve saved so many people, you need help mentally, because you have to have something wrong with you,’” said Doug Tyers, Hank’s friend for 40 years.
“They wouldn’t go see the doctors, they were too scared. Guys in wars don’t go through that many deaths or have to save that many people, or people shot and that. With what he’s seen, he should have had a psychiatrist talking to him every week. That guy was a good guy, he saved a lot of people.”
Hank was the voice of the homeless, the "mayor" of Moccasin Flats who represented the unhoused people in meetings with civic politicians, city staff and the business community. He was the one guy people of the encampments could always count on to be there for them, because he lived with them, and now he’s dead.
Hank, 66, was found deceased in his tent Sunday afternoon. The results of an autopsy to confirm the cause of death have not been released.
“He took care of everybody,” said Tyers.”He was focused all about people other than himself. The downtown core is really going to miss him.”
News roundup:
DNA breakthrough helps police ID skull found in 1988 cold case, information wanted from Quesnel.
After losing a friend to an impaired driver, Prince George Mountie earns top Alexa’s Award.
PG Astronomical Society President recommends heading to Salmon Valley to catch Geminid Meteor Shower.
Celebration of Lights returns to the Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum.
Tourism Prince George highlighting niche winter activities to boost visitor numbers.
After Citizen columnist/city council candidate/MLA hopeful James Steidle used his election Facebook page to wonder aloud how a city councillor managed to buy ad space at the CN Centre and if it was an ethical issue, a Prince George Citizen report confirms it was done by 1. spending money to buy an available ad space and 2. allowed.
Drugs, human trafficking and money laundering on the agenda for public safety meeting.
Permanent salmon conservation hatchery to be developed by Cariboo First Nation.
Mackenzie second-degree murder case moved to Prince George court.
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Send feedback by emailing northerncapitalnews@gmail.com. Find me online at akurjata.ca.
thank you so much for sharing this piece about our amazing friend and community member hank. I often ran into him in the neighborhood either while at work or out walking my dog. I have a specific memory of seeing him this summer, on a particularly hot day going to fill big water jugs and hauling them back to camp on a really solid cart he had made for himself. he had a huge heart and was such a genuine soul.