After their 16-year-old daughter, Mackenzie Rooney, died in a dirt bike accident in Capreol last year, Tammy and Dan Rooney considered leaving the community.
They had only moved to Capreol from Val Caron less than a year before the accident, and didn't have any family there. But their neighbours were so supportive that they decided to stay.
“I have to say, Capreol is absolutely fabulous,” Tammy said. “I can't say enough about it.”
A case in point is Audrey Jean Wiebe and Suzanne Alyward, the Capreol residents who organized a May 25 cleanup of the Hanna Street greenbelt, where Mackenzie died.
Wiebe said the area has become something of an informal dump, but residents have banded together to “adopt” it from the City of Greater Sudbury, making sure it's kept clean.
During the May 25 event, volunteers filled about 80 bags with trash, and also pulled out nail-studded wood, wire, and other items.
The trails are being adopted in memory of Mackenzie, along with Capreol resident Christine Webster, who loved walking in the area before she died in 2003 at the age of 60. Wiebe and Alyward are even having signs made in memory of Mackenzie and Webster, which will be placed on the trails.
“Because we walk the trails all the time, we walk by Mackenzie's little spot all the time,” Wiebe said.
“I never knew the girl, but it didn't matter. She's part of our neighbourhood .... It's just a spot that we should all have respect for.
“By keeping it clean, I think (both Mackenzie and Webster) would be looking down on us right now, and be very proud that we're doing this.”
On Aug. 6, 2012, Mackenzie was riding her dirt bike with friends, when she looked away from the path in front of her for a second, and collided with a tree. She died of her injuries.
Tammy said she gets a physical reaction every time she sees someone riding a dirt bike. She also can't bring herself to visit the area where her daughter and only child died, and so wasn't able to help with the cleanup efforts.
“It's hard, because I really wanted to be able to go out with Audrey,” Tammy said.
Although Wiebe hadn't met the Rooney family until the day of the cleanup, she comforted Tammy with a hug, and promised that when she's ready, she'll walk the trails with her, and visit the place where Mackenzie died.
To say the past year has been difficult for the Rooney family is something of an understatement, but Tammy said she takes comfort in memories of her daughter.
Mackenzie was a talented artist and equestrian rider. She took pride in her appearance, and always had perfect hair and makeup, something that didn't stop her from spending as much time as possible in the outdoors.
“She was one of the few people who I can say really knew herself and was so comfortable in her own skin,” Tammy said.
“She was the first one to put a smile on somebody's face. If they were having a bad day, she would make it a point of spending time with that person, whether she knew them or not. She thought of others all the time.”
One of the ways Tammy has been coping the tragedy is riding Mackenzie's two horses. “Her horses were her life,” she said. “I could not imagine getting rid of them. It's my therapy.”
Tammy also finds solace in Mackenzie's friends.
Several of them attended the cleanup, and more were due to attend a May 25 bowling event in Mackenzie's memory.
The fundraiser raised money for the Greater Sudbury Dressage Association, of which the teen was a member, as well as a scholarship the family has set up at her high school, Bishop Alexander Carter Catholic Secondary School.
“Her friends staying in contact, it helps me,” Tammy said. “I think with kids, they remember the things she used to do. They remember her laugh and her smile. They tell me stories. Most of them I knew, some of them I didn't.”
Kaitlin Dufresne and Michaela Therrien, who had been friends with Mackenzie since Grade 2, were among those at the events.
“She's been my best friend forever,” Michaela said. “I personally haven't been in any of the bushes where the accident happened. I heard it was messy, so I felt like it was important for me to go, and just clean up.”
Mackenzie's cousin, Connor Beleznay, travelled to Capreol from his Toronto home for the events. The 16-year-old said he was close to his cousin, and they were more like brother and sister.
“It was hard to understand that she is truly gone,” Beleznay said. “It just kind of felt like she wasn't here, if that makes any sense at all. It still doesn't really click.”
As a nature lover, Mackenzie would have approved of the cleanup efforts, he said.
“She always spent a lot of time keeping her appearance tip top and tidy, and looking very nice, so it's not honouring her memory very well if the trail where the incident happened is just a mess.”
