The mother of a young man lost at sea is recounting her experience and work in turning tragedy into advocacy.
Twenty-five-year old Marc Russell of Mary’s Harbour and 30-year-old Joey Jenkins of Lodge Bay and the vessel the Island Lady were never located after failing to return from a fishing trip on September 17, 2021.
Jeanette Russell, Marc’s mother, addressed the Newfoundland and Labrador Fish Harvesting Safety Association earlier today, recounting her experiences of the last time she saw Marc, and the fight to keep the ensuing search going.
She remembers hearing an odd bird call that she attempted to locate and noticing a butterfly as she gazed out over the horizon. She calls this her last “truly happy moment.”
She says she was given one last carefree moment before her world collapsed.
When the search was called off, Russell says she felt that the federal search system had once again failed Labrador.@VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/YwgLG9dgv3
— Noah Sheppard (@SheppardNoah14) November 2, 2022
Since the tragedy, the Russell family have dedicated themselves to advocating for increased safety measures for inshore fishing harvesters. Russell says one of the major issues is the lack of Search and Rescue services in Labrador. There is no primary provider of search and rescue response on the Bigland.
She says she spoke today in outrage at the lack of essential search and rescue resources. She says it has been 10 years since the Burton Winters tragedy first highlighted this issue, which still has not been addressed.
“How many lives must be lost in Labrador before the federal government will rectify the problem?”
She says she chose to be here today in outrage at the lack of essential search and rescue services in Labrador.
“How many lives have to be lost in Labrador before the federal government rectifies the problem?”@VOCMNEWS pic.twitter.com/diatpqLqAj
— Noah Sheppard (@SheppardNoah14) November 2, 2022
