Goodbye Gord Downie

Goodbye Gord Downie

December 31, 2017

I like many was in shock to hear that the lead singer of The Tragically Hip, Gord Downie was diagnosed with brain cancer. The reason this comes up tonight is that we decided to finally watch the documentary ‘Long Time Running’. It was very emotional to watch not only because of the things that the band had to go through but there were some scenes in there that reminded me of when my brother almost died.

Back in 1997 my brother had gotten into an accident, my cousin was driving and as usual he was always trying to show off and speed like normal…only this time my brother almost died because of it. It was terrible and I would never want to wish that on anyone, I remember the uncontrollable screaming coming from the ER until they could sedate him. I remember sleeping at his bedside in the ICU, I remember seeing his frail body in the hospital bed. I remember him waking up and not having control over his body or his eyes. I remember him standing up on his bed, I remember him crying telling my mom that my sister and I wouldn’t be back. I remember it all and frankly I hated every stinking memory.

This documentary brought me back to a time when we didn’t know what the outcome was going to be. We didn’t know if or when my brother was going to leave the hospital, we didn’t know if he was ever going to be able to do things for himself again. It was horrible. I could see how beaten up and broken Gord was in this documentary and I remember seeing that in my brother. Not only were we upset about what was happening but so were the victims.

I had to turn away a few times as I just couldn’t bear to watch some parts as they hit a little too close to home for me. They took me to a place that I had left behinds so long ago. The things that Gord was saying made me want to cry for him but also for my brother. You start to hurt for people when you know that they are going through a hard time. Sadly though, in this documentary we know what the ending was…

But with my brother I think about all the work he put into himself and how he has recovered. He is an amazing person and the things he can do still amaze me. I’m sure there are some things that he struggles with today but you wouldn’t ever know. He has truly come a long way and I’m happy for that. I’m sad that the world has lost such an amazing person but I’m glad that my brother was able to persevere.