Castlegar Rebels player, Nate Jackman, has been identified as the person killed in a car accident early on Sunday morning May 5th, north of Balfour.
Castlegar Rebels President, Mike Johnstone, says its a sad loss for the family, club, and community.
“It’s been a difficult couple of days for everybody.” Said Mike.
“Nate was a very special young man, and he was such an amazing teammate.”
“He was always so supportive to the other players, whether or not he was in the lineup for or out of the lineup on a given night.”
“He came to the rink every day with a smile on his face and just really was a light in our room.”
Born in Nelson, Nate was in his final year of high school, set to graduate next month, and was proud to wear the number 23 jersey for the Castlegar Rebels for one season.
At only 17 years old, it was a life cut too short.
“We’ve spent time reaching out to our players over the last couple of days.” Said Mike.
“Our players are spread out pretty much over all over Western Canada at this point, so it’s been difficult for them being apart from one another.”
“We had a team zoom meeting where we had a chance to sort of see each other’s faces and chat for a few moments, so that was kind of special.”
Friends of the Jackman family have created a Go Fund Me campaign that has raised over sixty eight thousand dollars.
“As an organization, we want to pass on our condolences and love to Nate’s family.” said Mike.
“They’re always in our thoughts and prayers, and I just want to thank really the entire community for their support on behalf of the Rebels organization.”
“We’ve had hundreds and hundreds of calls and messages and texts, reaching out from people throughout the West Kootenay area and want to thank the community for being there for us in this time of grief.”
Previous story: Fatal single vehicle accident near Balfour – My Nelson Now.
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