INNISFAIL – If there’s one thing Trevor Paré will be remembered for it was his love for hockey.
The 27-year-old Innisfail man passed away earlier this month after a long, hard fought battle with Pompe disease.
“He was a Red Deer Rebels season ticket holder and he was always at the Eagles games,” said Linda Paré, Trevor’s mother.
Trevor bought Rebels season tickets again this spring for next season, which the family will now use.
“He would want us to be there,” said Paré.
Ryan Dodd, general manager of the Innisfail Eagles, remembered Trevor as a bigger than life hockey fan who left an impact on his community.
“Whenever you have a fan like Trevor that shows such passion, enthusiasm and love for the game and the teams around him, they’re special people,” said Dodd, adding the young man will be sadly missed by many.
"Every time you lose somebody from the sport like Trevor, you lose a little piece of greatness.”
Trevor was adopted by the Paré family at three months of age and was diagnosed with Pompe disease, a rare, inherited, neuromuscular disorder when he was just 10 months old.
Trevor passed away on June 14.
“It was a progression of the disease. It just slowly shut his body down,” said Paré. “It was his time.”
Trevor was recently admitted to Innisfail Health Centre and placed on a strong antibiotic that seemed to work well, but the body couldn’t recover, noted Paré.
He was taken to Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre where they told him they could attempt other types of treatment with no guarantee.
Trevor refused and asked to return home to Innisfail to be near those he loved. He passed away surrounded by family and friends.
“We were all there. The doctors and nurses made sure he was comfortable. He didn’t suffer.
“I was holding his hand,” said Paré, noting his sharp mental capacity. “His mind was there right until the bitter end.
“The staff at the hospital treated us so well and Dr. Miller was right there by his side the whole time,” she added.
“Trevor made such an impact on people. Everybody he met he loved. He taught people things that they never would have learned,” said Paré. “The kindness in Trevor just shone.”
In addition to his love for hockey, the one thing people will remember about her son, said Paré, was his determination and fighting spirit.
“He got drugs for rare diseases covered across Canada,” said Paré. “He fought hard to cover everybody.
“Trevor was fighting for his life, he needed the drug and he asked (the health minister) to fund all rare diseases in Alberta. He didn’t ask to just fund him. That was Trevor.”
