The roads between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have carried a great deal of grief this week. On Friday, a procession began in Saint John and wound its way across the Confederation Bridge and on to Souris, P.E.I., where residents lined the streets in silence to welcome home Jenna Croucher and Mike MacKenzie — two Island paramedics killed Tuesday when their ambulance collided with a transport truck near Melrose, N.B., roughly 12 kilometres southwest of the bridge. Anne Martell, a 77-year-old patient from Montague being transported in the ambulance, also died in the crash. Three lives, one terrible moment on a rural New Brunswick road.
The collision has shaken the tight-knit world of Atlantic Canadian emergency medicine in a way that is difficult to overstate. Jason Woodbury, president of the union representing Island paramedics, said his members are “in disbelief.” “It’s going to take some time for us to grieve and take the time to reflect,” he said. “They were part of the EMS and the first-responder community, and we’re a tight-knit community.” The RCMP continues to investigate the circumstances of the crash.
Into that grief, colleagues from across the region have moved quickly and quietly. Hundreds of paramedics from New Brunswick have volunteered to travel to P.E.I. and temporarily fill shifts at Island EMS, allowing their Island counterparts the space to mourn, attend funerals, and support one another. Paramedics from Nova Scotia have also stepped forward. Volunteers are being issued 30-day authorizations to work on the Island in their spare time and could be operational within days.
Chris Hood, executive director of the Paramedic Association of New Brunswick, framed the response in straightforward terms. “They want to help their brothers and sisters on the Island take the time they need and grieve the way they need to grieve and be there to support them,” he told CBC News. The scale of the volunteer response — hundreds of people offering their off-hours — speaks to a professional culture that runs deeper than provincial borders.
Island EMS acknowledged that depth in a statement released Wednesday. “We are grateful to the EMS teams in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia who responded immediately to support Island EMS and all those affected,” it read. “Their professionalism, compassion, and unwavering commitment to their colleagues during such a difficult time reflect the very best of the paramedic profession.” The organization added that the impact of the loss will be felt “for a long time to come.”
Jenna Croucher was 23 years old and from Nine Mile Creek, P.E.I. Her father, Robin Croucher, P.E.I.’s Minister of Education, described her as a “rare beacon of light” with a gift for connecting with people across every age and background. Mike MacKenzie was 56, from Warren Grove, P.E.I., and had just been recognized for two decades of service with Island EMS. Those who knew him remembered a man who was inspirational, dedicated, and deeply rooted in his community.
People on both sides of the Northumberland Strait lined the roads on Friday as the procession carried the two paramedics home — a final, quiet testament to what they meant to the communities they had spent their careers serving.
