By Kevin Drews
The Canadian Press
TOFINO, B.C. — The boots worn by two paramedics who died in a crash played a key role at their memorial service in Tofino on Vancouver Island.
Jo-Ann Fuller and Ivan Polivka’s black boots were placed on pillows and marched into the ceremony before being left on the stage where speakers paid tribute to the paramedics killed on the job.
Les Fisher, chief operating officer of the B.C. Ambulance Service, said Saturday the boots represented what all paramedics have in common.
About 2,500 people attended the memorial, including police officers, firefighters and military personnel from across Canada and Washington state.
Fuller and Polivka were on their way back to Tofino after transporting a patient to Port Alberni when they were killed on Oct. 19. Their ambulance jumped a barrier on Highway 4, tumbled down a cliff and landed in a lake.
Fuller, 59, had been a paramedic for 23 years, and 65-year-old Ivan Polivka, who started with the service 14 years ago, was preparing to retire in the Yukon.
At a procession before the memorial, 75-year-old Roland Arnet wiped away tears.
''We’re here to pay our respects to these people who have given their lives in the service of the community,’' said Arnet, who was born in Tofino.
He said he’d never seen a parade through town or a similar memorial in Tofino, where the population almost doubled on Saturday.
''I really can’t say I could compare it to anything,’' said the former teacher and municipal councillor. ''This is unbelievable.’'
Local first nations presented roses woven out of cedar to Fuller and Polivka’s families during the memorial.
Elmer Frank, a member of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, said the loss of the paramedics has been painful for aboriginal communities in the Vancouver Island area.
''They saved a lot of our lives,’' Frank said. ''They helped a lot of our people and that’s something we honour.’'
Reading a statement from Premier Gordon Campbell, Health Minister Kevin Falcon said Fuller and Polivka dedicated their lives to helping others.
''My sincere wish is that the families are comforted with the knowledge that they assisted so many people in the course of their work,’' Falcon read.
John Strohmaier, president of the Ambulance Paramedics of BC, paid tribute to the paramedics’ combined 37 years of service.
''Sometimes they saved lives, sometimes they eased the passage of those who were beyond saving, giving what final comfort they could,’' he said.
''Sometimes they were there with great joy to witness and welcome a newborn child.’'
Fuller’s brother, Bob Hansen, said his sister was a loyal friend.
''She would be saying, ‘Lighten up. I have a new body and I’m walking in the presence of my creator in a place of perfect rest,’' he said of Fuller, who was a grandmother.
Fred Webber remembered his stepfather as someone who loved animals.
He said that if there’s one lesson to be learned from Polivka’s life it’s this: Be good to your family and your co-workers and treat all living things with respect.
After the service, two ambulances outfitted in black shrouds led a second procession through Tofino.
An ambulance that will replace the one that crashed will have Fuller and Polivka’s names inscribed on it.
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