Red Deer Regional Hospital workers wave at an ambulance driving by as part of a special parade Tuesday evening in their honour. (rdnewsNOW/Rene Rondeau)

By Troy Gillard and Sheldon Spackman

"Above And Beyond"

First responders salute hospital workers, young boy with special parades

Apr 1, 2020 | 1:45 PM

Red Deer’s first responders are making it loud and clear to the local community that when it comes to the COVID-19 crisis, they’re all in it together.

This spirit of unity was on full display Tuesday night as a group of 30 vehicles driven by Red Deer RCMP members, Red Deer Emergency Services personnel and other local first responders paraded around Red Deer Regional Hospital to thank and honour healthcare workers for all they are doing during the pandemic.

“We gave the hospital notice that we were going to do this, which was great, because then they allowed their staff to go to windows at the hospital, and of course, at the main entrances both for general admission, as well as for the emergency units, we were greeted by several staff members who could come out and see us saying ‘thank you’ to them for the tremendous work that they are all doing,” says Red Deer Fire Chief Ken McMullen. “Not only the frontline healthcare workers, but all of the employees within the hospitals to make those facilities work.”

McMullen admits the event was heartwarming.

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“I know I felt very proud, and then to witness the men and women of uniform services all take time out of their evening to be a part of it, I would tell you that they, too, felt very proud of the opportunity to be there. I hope the impact is one of gratitude and one of just real pride that they get to feel not only for what they’re doing in their challenging circumstances, but that their work is not being forgotten. But they’re not alone – we’re all in this together.”

It wasn’t the only act of kindness shown by first responders on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day they paid a special visit to Will Holstein, a Red Deer boy who was celebrating his third birthday while in isolation with his family.

Will’s mother Sinead says her son had been asking daily for the past six weeks if it was his birthday yet, and when COVID-19 spoiled any potential party for him, she looked for other ways to make his big day special.

“I knew that we would be spending time together as a family and I kept asking him, ‘What do you want to do?’ And every single time he just kept saying he wanted Marshall from Paw Patrol to come,” says Holstein. “I couldn’t think of how I could make that happen, so I reached out to the Red Deer Firefighters Association and asked them if they had a Sparky suit, if someone would mind just dressing up and walking along our sidewalk and waving at him from the window. But they went above and beyond, they coordinated with the RCMP, they made everything happen!”

As a result, Will was treated to his very own parade of police cars and a fire truck on his special day. Peace officers, RCMP members, local firefighters and other first responders from Red Deer helped three-year-old Will Holstein celebrate his birthday with a special drive-by salute near his home.

Holstein says she gets teary-eyed just thinking about it.

“It’s just such an amazing gesture for a three-year-old,” she exclaims. “For him, he was so excited. He was just in awe of everything and he stood out there with my daughter (5-yr-old Sydney) who stood out there in shorts in her pajamas for the whole two and a half minutes just watching them. It was amazing.”

McMullen notes many first responders make it a priority to be strong supporters of their community, but admits this type of request is one they won’t often be able to accommodate.

“As a result of the COVID-19 experience, we’ve had to pause many of our initiatives that we do in our communities, and I know that our partners in policing have also had to limit their involvement with community events,” he explains. “But I’ll tell you, yesterday was a pretty special event, for again both us and the RCMP, to go help a young boy celebrate his birthday.”

Holstein says ‘thank you’ isn’t enough for what the first responders did for her son and what they do for all of us on a daily basis.

“It was about my son in that moment, but then it turned out to be such a communal thing, it brightened everyone’s day. It was a great gesture for my son, but it was an even better gesture for the community.”