A large contingent from the Delta Fire Department and beyond paid their respects to Thomas Haydon on Monday in Victoria as part of the Sixth Biennial B.C. Fallen Firefighters’ Memorial service.
The memorial honoured 48 of the province’s fallen firefighters who died in the line of duty in the last four years with a parade through downtown Victoria, followed by a ceremony on the south lawn of the B.C. Legislative Assembly.
In October 2018 Haydon lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at the age of 36. The Ladner resident not only left behind his young family, but a fire department and community he made a tremendous impact on.
His lasting legacy includes Delta Lacrosse’s annual Thomas Haydon Day in June where his friends and former teammates celebrate his life with an alumni game and present a special award and scholarship in his name. Funds raised during that event helped ‘gift’ the City of Delta a $22,000 “Thomas Haydon Scoreboard” for the new Ladner Sport Court.
For the last four years, some local restaurants have come together to raise more than $55,000 for the B.C. Cancer Foundation in Haydon’s honour.
Delta Fire Chief Guy McKintuck has a photo of Haydon in his office as a constant reminder of his positive outlook even when he was sick. Haydon became a Delta firefighter in 2014.
“I had the opportunity to speak to him quite bit over the three years even after he was diagnosed and was very sick. Never ever did he complain, not once. There were times I would leave and breakdown, asking myself how is he so strong?” recalled McKintuck who was in Victoria for the ceremony.
“His brother (Adam) gave me the photo of Thomas. To me it’s an incredible source of strength and perspective. Like you think you are having a bad day and want to complain about stuff? Be like Thomas Haydon.
“He exemplified what a firefighter is supposed to be. He had courage. He had compassion and he was committed.”
Delta South MLA Ian Paton recalls hiring Haydon to work at his Ladner farm prior to his firefighting career.
“Tommy came out and helped out a few times with throwing hay bales into the hay loft. The guy was great at it, because he's a big, big, strong, Saskatchewan boy with a farming background,” recalled Paton who also attended the service. I was told that he really enjoyed going back to Saskatchewan to his family farm to work in the summer, driving tractors and combines and different things like that.
“It was great to see a really good turnout from Delta here today. A lot of firefighters and Tommy’s family and lacrosse buddies too.”
John Burr was not only a department colleague of Haydon’s, but someone he got to know during their time together with the Ladner Pioneers, a senior lacrosse club where Haydon made an impact as a player then a coach. Burr was also in Victoria to pay tribute to his long-time friend.
“Tommy was a one of a kind type of person. His personality was so magnetic,” said Burr. “I like to think I was the one that convinced him in becoming a firefighter. I sure do miss the little bugger.”
More than 500 firefighters from across the province participated in the parade.
