WATCH: Thousands honoured Const. John Davidson at an Abbotsford memorial on Sunday. His children and siblings shared emotional speeches. Isabelle Raghem reports.
A sea of red filled Abbotsford Sunday.
Thousands of first responders marching as one escorted the body of Constable John Davidson in an emotional send-off.
The Canadian military, U.S. forces, B.C. paramedics and officers from Vancouver Island were walking among them.
A rider-less horse, a symbol of the lost officer, lead the hearse while Davidson’s rider-less bike, the one he rode for cops for cancer, follow not far behind.
His colleagues, emotional, as they remember their friend.
“I will miss our daily chats, his gut-busting humour, our sushi dates, our workouts and knowing he always had my back,” said Cst. Renae Williams, Davidson’s Traffic Inspection Partner.
The 53-year-old remembered as a son, a brother, a husband and a father.
“For the family, you were a different kind of hero,” said his sister Sheila.
“The thought that you would have to leave your family under these circumstances would have broken your heart,” said his sister Isabel.
His children shared a glimpse of who he was.
“It’s hard to properly capture into words just how special dad was in a way that does him justice. He was strong, intelligent, humble and a real piece of work,” said his youngster daughter Fay.
It was an emotional farewell for a man who died to protect others and cherished by those who knew him.
“My brother is not still immobile in the casket,” sais his brother Keith, “He’s off running on a mountain somewhere, helping someone get up there too.”
Isabelle Raghem
