10 years after deadly train disaster, Lac-Mégantic still grieves for those who were lost
CBC
The house Raymond Lafontaine built 21 years ago is filled with family mementoes.
Framed photos of his grandchildren line the walls. Stained glass windows handcrafted by his brother are installed in the living room, which looks out over majestic water of Lac-Mégantic, Que. And on the dresser sits a single candle, embossed with a photo of his son, Gaétan.
But Lafontaine's once-lively home is quiet now.
Gaétan is dead; Lafontaine's grandchildren, orphaned. Raymond and his wife are separated. The construction business he built is up for sale, his surviving sons burnt out from stress.
Ten years ago, early in the morning of July 6, 2013, the Lafontaine family was ripped apart.
Gaétan, and Raymond's two daughters-in-law, Karine Lafontaine and Joanie Turmel, along with an employee, Marie-Noëlle Faucher, were among 47 people killed after a train carrying crude oil derailed on the main street of Lac-Mégantic, a town of about 6,000 located in Quebec's Eastern Townships, just north of Maine.
Another of Lafontaine's sons, Christian, called him early in the morning with the news.
"The train derailed," Lafontaine recalls Christian telling him. He lights a cigarette and takes a seat on his porch, looking out at the pouring rain. "I went down there, and it was right there where they all burned."
"Ever since this happened, we don't feel like we've been living. Our kids were a gift from above."
To mark the 10th anniversary of the tragedy, townspeople will set out on a candlelight walk just after 1:00 a.m. on July 6 — the hour that the train derailed.
But Lafontaine will be staying home.
He says grieving for his life as it was before 2013 is hard enough — never mind reliving the moment that left his family devastated.
"Every day we think about our kids. Every day this tragedy haunts us," said Lafontaine. "It's 10 years of nightmares."
Isabelle Boulanger will do what she has always done on the anniversary of her son Frédéric Boutin's death — release butterflies at his grave.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
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