For plenty of people in the Sydney, N.S., area, Walter and Cathy Rutherford are a couple who need no introduction. “They have spent their lives giving back,” said Shelley Bennett Trifos, a first cousin to Cathy Rutherford. “They have asked for nothing.” Since late September, Walter Rutherford, a retired police officer of more than 40 years, has been in intensive care in an Ottawa hospital with his wife at his side. Rutherford’s medical team has recommended that he be sent back home to Sydney once he is stable enough to travel but that is a costly proposition. In recent weeks, a small group of family and friends have been collecting donations and silent auction items for a benefit held Saturday night. “The Medivac flight to get him back here, including medical personnel and equipment, is in the area of about $50,000,” said Bennett Trifos, also the benefit’s organizer. Stephen MacKinnon, interim chief of the Cape Breton Regional Police, said Rutherford was a trusted veteran colleague who as a police Inspector spent part of his career working in Major Crime helping investigate some of the area’s most serious criminal offences. Away from the job, MacKinnon remembers his longtime coworker as a tireless volunteer at the hockey rink and a devoted father to his sons Mark and Trevor. “I’ve known Walter a long time and when you hear that news (of his recent illness), it kind of tugs at your heartstrings in terms of knowing who Walter really is as a family and community person first,” MacKinnon said. Those who know the family are well aware that they have dealt with a lot of tragedy. Both of the Rutherford sons passed away in recent years. Trevor Rutherford died in 2022 at age 34 following a lifetime living with Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. His older brother Mark passed away in 2025 due to a cardiac event at age 40. After losing both her children, and with her husband now seriously ill, Bennett Trifos said her cousin Cathy Rutherford is going through a lot but has been feeling the love from back home. “Cathy is a strong woman,” Bennett Trifos said. “They have had to be, to provide Trevor’s care over the years. She is putting one foot in front of the other right now and just doing the best that she can.” The benefit at Sydney’s Centre 200 on Saturday night was a full house, with all 400 tickets sold and a demand for more. However, when people showed up, they found out there had been a plot twist. “We now know that Walter and Cathy are going to get home and the cost will be covered,” Sydney-Membertou Liberal MLA Derek Mombourquette confirmed over the weekend. Mombourquette, who is another friend of the family, explained that some people within Nova Scotia’s Department of Health worked with health officials in Ottawa to make that happen. People who donated to the cause have now been offered their money back but so far, few if any, have wanted a refund. “There are a lot of expenses still to come, and the journey is still there for the family and the community is wonderful,” Mombourquette said. “Everybody stepped forward for Walter and Cathy because they love them.” Bennett Trifos said the hope now is that the Rutherfords will be able to fly home to Sydney in the coming weeks. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
