On September 18, 2012, Darcy Sheridan, a mother of five from North Bay, returned to the parking lot of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), where her newborn daughter was being treated for a genetic disorder, only to find that her van had been stolen. When Ian Charlebois, REALTOR® with RE/MAX Citywide Realty Inc. in Ottawa, heard this horrible story on the news, he decided to loan Darcy one of his vehicles, so she and her baby could get home safely.
“It was heartbreaking to think that it could happen in general let alone in my neighbourhood of Alta Vista,” explains Ian. “Halfway through reading the newspaper article I cried and immediately thought of how I could help – so I decided to contact the Ottawa Citizen journalist.”
He anonymously dropped the keys for his 2012 Nissan Titan truck off at the hospital reception desk and later told Darcy over the phone that he would travel to North Bay to pick up his truck once she had found a new way to get around town.
In another heart-warming turn of events, Rachel Sweezey, a local high school student, was working on an assignment for her Civics class on how to contribute to an issue raised in a news article when she came across a follow-up story in the paper about how an anonymous good Samaritan had lent Darcy his truck. She not only came up with an idea on how she could contribute to this situation for her school project, she actually followed through! She suggested to her brother Ben that he fly the owner of the truck to North Bay so he could retrieve his vehicle without having to drive over 350 kilometres to do so – and that’s exactly what he did.
On October 16, 2012, Ian flew with Ben in a single-engine Cessna to pick up his truck and meet Darcy and her family. When he arrived, he was amazed to learn that a Guelph couple had gifted her a 2004 Chevy Express with new tires after reading her story in the paper.
Ian is quick to point out the important role the media played in this story. “Truth be told, I didn’t do anything out of the norm – it was because of two hard working Ottawa Citizen journalists – Meghan Hurley and Chloe Fedio,” says Ian. “Hopefully it acts as a friendly reminder to all of us as to how the media plays a pivotal role in today’s society and in particular to this story, Meghan and Chloe deserve all the credit.”
Pictured: Ian and Ben in flight on their way to North Bay (top); baby Rayven while at CHEO (middle); Ian, Ben, Darcy, and her family in North Bay.
