Woman names daughter in honour of Humboldt Broncos player

By: Nigel Maxwell

A woman who was first on the scene of the fatal bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team has named her newborn daughter in honour of one of the players who died in the crash.

Logan Humble Strong Fiddler was born June 4 at Victoria Hospital in Prince Albert, weighing just over nine pounds. Her mother, Kelsey Fiddler, said she named daughter in honour of crash victim Logan Boulet when she read that the young man’s donated organs had helped to save lives. Boulet’s mother has contacted Fiddler, she said and given her blessing.

“She was happy and she was honoured that I thought of her son,” Fiddler said.

Fiddler said she was 28 weeks pregnant on the date of the crash April 6. She was on her way to Nipawin that day from Melfort to pick up her brother for a family get-together in Saskatoon, and her vehicle just happened to be in the intersection at the junction of Highways 35 and 335 when the charter bus carrying the team collided with a semi-trailer. The collision killed 16 people on the bus and injured 13 others.

“It’s in my mind all the time. Most quiet times are when feelings hit,” she said.  “Even right now talking about it.”

Fiddler said she chose to give her daughter the middle name Humble Strong, as opposed to Humboldt Strong, because to her the word humble means someone who is giving and can persevere through hard times. Fiddler said one day when her daughter is old enough to understand, she will share with her where her name comes from.

“I want to tell her how meaningful her name is and how the young man touched our lives and all the other young men,” she said.

Fiddler was discharged from hospital on Thursday and is currently staying at a hotel in Prince Albert with Logan and her three older children, ages seven, 11 and 13. She said they were all very happy to meet their new sister.

“They love her,” Fiddler said. “They can’t get enough of her.”