Page 20 - Brandon Sun - 2018 Community Leader Awards

20 • COMMUNITY LEADER AWARDS 2018 THE BRANDON SUN • THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2018

» COURAGE/BRAVERY AWARD, SPONSORED BY TIM HORTONS

Former Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman Don Dietrich of Deloraine has remained busy following his Parkinson’s diagnosis. (Perry Bergson/The Brandon Sun)
Mentor forges a path forward, despite the challenges of Parkinson’s

BY DIANE NELSON Dietrich has also mentored all the local community teams as “I also have a great family that’s been with me a hundred per
well as the Southwest Midget AAA Cougars team. He’s a cent through the whole thing.”
Not many people are able to say they’ve accomplished their member of Canada’s National Coach Mentorship Program and Dietrich is tremendously honoured to be nominated for a
life’s ultimate goal. But Deloraine’s Don Dietrich can. was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011 Community Leader Award, saying he was “very surprised”
“I actually am a very lucky man – I got to live the dream,” in the Builders’ category. when he heard the news.
the now 57-year-old said. “And my dream was to play in the “And you can’t think about Don without appreciating how “That’s so nice!” he said.
National Hockey League. I was drafted underage by Chicago much courage and bravery he displays every day while fighting According to Crepeele, it’s hard not to be inspired by a story
in 1980 – I played 17 games with them and I also played 11 with his own body,” Crepeele said. such as his, of a life well lived despite tremendous difficulties.
games with New Jersey. “Throughout all of these accomplishments since being home, “In 1999, that’s when I had my first cancer surgery,” Dietrich
“Then I played more than 350 American Hockey League he has also accomplished living life with Parkinson’s. One year said. “They gave me six to nine months then.
games. And I played in Germany and Switzerland as a player after moving back to Deloraine at the young age of 34, Don “I guess when I was told that, I think I cried for about 20
and assistant coach. I developed a coaching strategy over there: was diagnosed with this incurable disease. But he was seconds. And I could hear all my good coaches over my life tell
When in doubt, I’d just put myself out!” determined … that it wouldn’t stop him from doing the things me to get up off the ice. Get up and play the game of life.”
That his sense of humour remains intact is only part of the he loves. Which he’s certainly done. But while he never complains, he’s
reason nominator Breigh Crepeele felt Dietrich was worthy of “He also didn’t let his first, second or third diagnoses with frank about the fact that dealing with his disease is no picnic.
being a contender for the Community Leader Bravery and cancer deter him. And throughout all his health battles, he never “Every day is a struggle with Parkinson’s – I always refer to him
Courage Award. Through his hockey accomplishments, Dietrich stopped giving back to his community and his sport. Don is a as ‘my old pal’ because everywhere I go, he goes,” Dietrich said.
has inspired others to follow their dreams, and over the years true inspiration for all ages and this is evident in his courageous “He’s not invited, but he’s always there.”
has been a mentor for coaches, for parents and for young players. fight to live ‘his’ life, and he should be commended for the When asked if he had any words of wisdom to offer others
Born and raised in Deloraine, Dietrich moved back there with bravery he shows every day to keep moving forward despite his who might now or one day be fighting the same battles he is,
his wife and three sons in 1994 after his days of playing many health challenges.” Dietrich was straightforward. “I consider myself a warrior,”
professional hockey were through. Since then, he’s constantly So where does that sort of determination come from? Dietrich he said. “Every day I have to get up and fight. And sometimes
volunteered his time to help young hockey players improve their credits his favourite sport with giving him the courage and the you don’t win the war but you win the battle.
skills, and also assisted in developing the Breakfast Club program acceptance to take things as they come and be grateful for each “I’m a real believer in you’ve got to play the cards you’re dealt.
in Deloraine which has since spread across Manitoba. Free of day. “I think it’s been more or less my hockey background that’s I wrote a book called ‘No Guarantees,’ and in that book I made
charge, kids attend the rink in the early morning hours, where helped with that,” Dietrich said. “Knowing that you have to the statement, that that’s why I love sports so much, because
they’re coached for 40 minutes and have 20 minutes to play play the card you’re dealt. In hockey, you don’t get to pick the you never know the outcome. And such is life, right? You never
around on the ice, then are fed breakfast and sent to school. team you line up against. know what’s going to happen day to day.”
Mother’s devotion perseveres following the tragic loss of her husband

BY DIANE NELSON

For journalists, a passion for meeting, talking with and
discovering more about people is a mandatory part of the job.
And while everyone is fascinating for one reason or another,
and everybody has a story — or many stories — to tell, over
the course of a career, there are certain folks who just stand out.
That was certainly the case for former Brandon Sun reporter
Ian Froese.
When he talked with Caryn Waldon and wrote her story for
Sun readers, he was tremendously moved by her strength in the
face of terrible tragedy. So touched was he, in fact, that he
nominated the young woman for the Community Leader Award
in the Courage/Bravery category.
Waldon was pregnant with her and her husband Bryce’s first
child when Bryce died suddenly while building their dream
home in December of last year. Sophia Bryce Waldon was born
on Feb. 9, and rather than wallowing in the depths of her grief,
Caryn Waldon is instead focused on the miracle that is her
daughter.
“I’m so blessed to have Soph,” she said.
“And I got that from Bryce. She makes it easier for me to be
happy because she makes me happy.
And she has his smile. That was one
of the things I loved most about him,
was his smile. So every day when I
walk through that door and get Soph
from her crib and she smiles at me, I
know today’s going to be a good day.”
That’s not to say that Waldon doesn’t
have down times, when she sheds tears
over her loss, the fact that Sophia will
never meet her father and that Bryce didn’t have the chance to
be a parent. But she credits a legion of supporters for helping
her through the roughest of times. Caryn Waldon holds her daughter Sophia Bryce Waldon in Sophia's nursery at her home in Brandon's south end. Caryn's husband Bryce
“I’m just doing what I have to do,” Waldon said. “I couldn’t passed away while Caryn was pregnant with Sophia. The nursery is full of reminders of Bryce including photos and a stuffed bear made
have gotten through it without Bryce’s parents and my parents out of some of his clothing. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
and the communities rallying around me – and his friends even.
I had about ten people a day texting me. No one ever left me real help, Waldon said, to talk to someone who really understood Waldon has found particular inspiration in her Uncle Brad,
alone, even when I was grumpy.” what she was going through. who’s lost a son, a wife and a grandon. “And he’s a very good
Waldon said being nominated for a Community Leader And sadly, she said, her and Jarvis’s situation is not all that help to me because I just look at him and how he stays so
Award was “overwhelming” and said that she’s just doing what uncommon. positive,” Waldon said through tears. “He’s lost more than I
she has to do to continue to live. “I don’t really think I’m that When Waldon heard about Oak River’s Kaitlyn Ramsey, who have and I admire how he goes through every day being
brave,” she said. is currently pregnant with her second child and whose husband positive.”
“It was all those people who helped me. They’re the ones who Marty was killed in a snowmobile accident on March 11 of this The people who helped her when Bryce died and who
are brave. If I’m ever having a really bad day, I can call any one year, Waldon paid it forward and contacted Ramsey to offer continue to do so to this day, along with Jarvis and Ramsey and
of those people and they’ll bring me back. So that’s where I get her support. The two are now each other’s best friends and Waldon’s Uncle Brad, are the real award-worthy heroes in
my courage, if you want to call it that. From all the people who biggest supporters, bonded by mutual tragedy. Waldon’s estimation.
are there for me. So I don’t know if I deserve an award.” “Kaitlyn and I — we text every day,” Waldon said. “We both “They’re the ones who were brave,” she said. “In a way, there’s
When word of Waldon’s tragedy spread throughout the had a Plan A, and Plan A didn’t work, so we’ve adopted Plan a lot of people who have been through a lot worse things that I
Brandon and Deloraine communities, Waldon was contacted B — that’s what we call it. Taking things one day at a time. We have. This is kind of what I had to do, and Bryce wouldn’t want
by Jenny Jarvis, whose husband Blaine had died in a have to move forward – not move on, but move forward. me to be sad for the rest of my life. He’d want me to be there
snowmobile accident when their child was a year old. It was a Develop a new normal. Together we’re doing that.” for Soph.”