Memorial for Humboldt Broncos on display in Shawnigan Lake

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WATCH: As many as 500 people were expected to attend a vigil in Shawnigan Lake Thursday night to honour victims of the Humboldt tragedy. Skye Ryan has more.

With the help of her three-year-old daughter, Miranda Froese set up a memorial table in Shawnigan Lake for the 16 victims in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash.

A vigil was held there Thursday night with close to 500 people attending.

“So many lives have been affected by this. I couldn’t imagine losing either one of them, so to be there and be supportive for other families who could really use it right now if the number one goal for sure,” Froese said.

Even though Humboldt, Sask. is not close to Vancouver Island, the faces of the team and the crash remind some residents of other collisions. Organizaers of the vigil felt it would help people in Shawnigan Lake and people from other communities on the island grieve.

One of the people attending was Darren Wright, who played hockey for the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders.

“It was the best time of my life,” Wright said.

Wright said the Humboldt Broncos tragedy hit him and his fellow hockey players hard.

It was like a light got switched and every memory I had came rushing back. I visualized my dad getting the phone call, my friends parents getting a phone call and there’s no way to take it back,” Wright said.

The 42-year-old dad wrote a poem to read at the vigil to honour all of the victims of the crash.

“We’d already made it to the bigs in our own minds. We don’t do it as warriors for money or fame. We did it for our brothers, the team and most of all the love of the game,” Wright’s poem reads.

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