Colleen and Jim Fitzpatrick frequently visit the same small park in their hometown of Prince George, B.C.
“It's a very special place,” Colleen, proud yet pained six years after her son’s untimely death, says of The Darren Fitzpatrick Bravery Park. “It's in the neighbourhood where he grew up and he played little league, attended daycare. We spend time and reflect.”
On March 6, 2010, Corporal Darren Fitzpatrick was on foot patrol in Afghanistan’s tumultuous Kandahar province when a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) detonated, tearing through his body. Gravely injured by the blast, Cpl. Fitzpatrick died in an Edmonton hospital two weeks later on March 20. He was only 21-years-old.
Cpl. Fitzpatrick, a member of the Edmonton-based 3rd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, was the 141st casualty in Canada’s mission to Afghanistan, which stretched from 2002 to 2011. 158 Canadian military personnel died in Afghanistan during those nine violent years. The vast majority were killed by the type of explosion that claimed Cpl. Fitzpatrick’s life.
To honour her fallen son and other grieving military families, this year, Colleen has been named Canada’s Silver Cross Mother.
Created in 1919, the Silver Cross – formally known as the Memorial Cross – is granted to the mother, widow, widower or next-of-kin of Canadian military personnel who lost their lives while on duty. Every year, the Royal Canadian Legion chooses a Silver Cross Mother from the ranks of grieving women who lost a child serving in the Canadian Forces.
Tasked with representing all Canadian mothers who lost children in the service of Canada, Colleen will lay a wreath at the National War Memorial in Ottawa on Remembrance Day.
“It takes a very special individual to put on the uniform and step forward to serve,” Colleen, still racked with emotion, says. “And for all of our sons and daughters, that's what I'll be thinking of – our freedoms, because they served.”
Colleen and Jim were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in Mexico when the news that no military family ever wants to hear reached them.
Suffering massive blood loss from the IED attack, Cpl. Fitzpatrick was airlifted from Afghanistan to a hospital in Germany where his parents were able to stay by his side. His dying wish was to go home to Canada. The young soldier passed away the day after arriving in Alberta.
“He wasn’t conscious when he was in Alberta,” Colleen says, “but I’m sure he felt our presence and he knew we were all there.”
To honour their fallen son, whose life was prolonged by numerous selfless blood donors, the Fitzpatricks launched a blood donation campaign last year.
“It has definitely become a passion for the family,” Colleen says. “It was our opportunity to pay it forward. For us, it prolonged a life for Darren that we had those two special weeks with him.”
Cpl. Fitzpatrick is buried in a Prince George cemetery, but it’s in the park that carries his name where his parents come to feel close to their lost son.
“The cemetery is a place of finality,” Colleen says. “I don't feel his presence there like I do where Darren would be having fun and enjoyment, at the park – that’s where we feel his presence.”
With a report from CTV's Mercedes Stephenson
