But on this trip through Parksville, she would carry her ashes. The ambulance was one of a long line of emergency vehicles paraded in the island’s city center in honor of a lady her friends said lived to save her and whose sudden death has shocked her community. “It has left a hole in everyone’s heart,” said Jen Hicks, a longtime friend and paramedic at BC Ambulance Service. “She lived for her family and we were her family, so she ran, her compassion, her kindness.” Hundreds of emergency workers gathered in Parksville on Saturday to pay tribute to the 54-year-old they worked with – including RCMPs and firefighters on paramedic colleagues. “He would have killed her if she had let a car get off without staff to work on her breaks, and that was exactly the person,” said Robbie Jay, a longtime friend and colleague of the BC Ambulance Service. “It was an honor to learn to help people with Natalie. “I was her guide, her helper in all these adventures,” said John McKinstry, a longtime friend and retired ambulance attendant at the BC Ambulance Service. The devoted animal rescue dogs, Mac and Harlow, walked with the honorary guard at the celebration of Easter’s life, where they met Mary’s sad daughter. “It’s just to honor her and recognize what she has given to the ambulance service and what she has given to the people of British Columbia,” Jai said. “This is a woman who took homeless people to make sure they had a safe place, a hot shower,” Hicks said. Pascus died suddenly of undiagnosed heart disease on March 26 and was a shock to everyone who knew her because she was so healthy that she was preparing to breathe new life into an elderly man. “She had just passed her last medical examination to donate a kidney to a man who needed a kidney transplant. “A stranger was driving in the city with a sign in his car saying I needed a kidney, can someone donate a kidney?” Jai said. “He just said, ‘I have to do this to help them,’” McKinstry said. “Everyone should live like this. “Give, take care of others,” said Hicks. Hundreds of emergency workers gathered in Parksville on Saturday to pay tribute to Natalie Pascus, 54, who died suddenly last month. (CHEK News) [email protected]
Writing policies Report an error
