On Saturday June 8th, Donny Chang, Coastal Riders and the real ND Skate Crew celebrated the late Jamie Kehoe’s birthday by throwing a big shindig at the skate park where they all hung out together. Friends, family and everyone else showed up and had a great time together and lived the day for someone who can’t anymore. Jamie’s life was stolen from him in 2010 at the young age of 18 when he and his friend tried to stop a fight on the bus and he was stabbed in the neck. A brutal scene and completely uncalled for situation, and once again, an innocent man robbed of life for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Remember Lee Matasi, Rachel Hunter and Chris Whitmee, same thing – shot dead in random acts by people they would have never associated with normally, but they happened to be in the wrong place that day. The days have come when it’s too dangerous to be a hero, and sadly when there is an act of violence happening it is almost better to run away and let that person suffer while you call the police to come and deal with it. We all grow up knowing right from wrong and when we see someone doing something wrong it is difficult to step up and try to stop them, it takes great courage and honour to not just sit there and let it happen. But in today’s society – is it worth it?
We’ve lost too many people in our skateboard family to these random acts, and I can name 5-10 more locally that have been in the same situations and barely survived. It’s scary.
I didn’t get to be at Jamie Kehoe’s 2nd annual celebration as we were away this weekend, but I know tons of people showed up and paid there respect in so many ways. And I’m sure he was looking down watching the whole thing from above.
Read this message below that Hermann Puschel wrote for Jamie to recap the way the event went down and feel the love, feel the pain, and recognize how many people an act like this affects.
RIP Jamie Kehoe…
“Hey Jamie Kehoe. Boy what a weekend this was LOL I know you are proud of us, we skated we partied but most important of all we remembered you. Donny Chang worked so hard to make your skate jam the great success that it was it shows how great a person he is and the love he has for you. The boys Tony Casano, Aaron Fermill, Majed Salem, Kurtis Day, Stefan Alvarez, Eric Pereira and all the rest of them were all at the park remembering you in their own special way, some skated some drank but it was all for you buddy and always with much love and heartache for you not being here. Tylor Joseph Faucher and Chris Faucher came by and it was great seeing them man, let me tell you those 2 have such a deep love for you and miss you more than I can describe. Your dad man you are so lucky to call him father and for him to call you son, he works so hard to never let anyone forget the amazing person you were and I respect him so much and the rest of your family as well, they were all there just for you telling stories and sharing memories of you. JK ALL DAY could be seen all over the park parents skaters girls homies everyone was there to show their love and it was strong. The girls Jacquie Stipec and Richelle Day came just for you man you still have a way with the ladies, and those 2 miss you SO MUCH they really loved you and you’ll always be their Jamie baby and you can’t forget about Marlee McAllister your always in her heart and on her mind. It was a great day but it wasn’t the same without you. I miss you man I tried my best to shred for you as hard as I could. You gave us so much in the short time we had together and when you were taken from us our hearts broke but you left us with one last gift. It was through your example of being a hero and the love we have for you that brought our crew back together and I just want to thank you Jamie, you brought the family back together and we will forever be grateful to you for that. Together we suffered cause of your lose, together we remember you everyday in our hearts and in our minds, and together when we meet again we will drink heavenly champagne and remember the good times as well as create new ones. I just thought you should know this weekend was yours and personally from the bottom of my heart thank you so much for bringing us back together everyone of them and you mean the world to me and I have a love for you guys that I just can’t put in words or possibly describe and I can’t wait till we are reunited with you. You will forever be our Hero and we will forever be indebted to you from the bottom of my heart and everyone elses thank you, we love you, and we miss you deeply” – Hermann.