Local community members from various professions assembled Friday for a common cause. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Sweating for a cause

P.A. fitness community pays respects to Sask. mountie

Jun 21, 2021 | 12:00 PM

As a showing of solidarity, approximately 70 Prince Albert and area community members came together Friday for a grueling workout. It was their way of paying respect to a fallen member of the Saskatchewan RCMP.

Cst. Shelby Patton was killed on June 15 near Wolseley, after conducting a traffic stop on a vehicle that allegedly had been stolen in Manitoba. Gabriel Boulette, a senior constable with the File Hills First Nations police service, was among the officers to respond to the tragic incident.

“The morning we had that call, it sent echoes through my spine. You just try to figure out what’s happening or how you can get there sooner. It was like driving in slow motion,” he said.

Boulette, who has a house in the Prince Albert area, approached the owners of Pure Athletics about doing a special tribute workout, and they agreed without blinking an eye.

“It’s all camaraderie. It’s to honor his life and the things he stood for,” Boulette said.

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(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Local members of the city’s police service, paramedics, deputy sheriffs, and RCMP were among those taking part in the specially designed, 30-minute “Patton” workout. Prince Albert RCMP Cpl. Ashley St Germaine was among the participants.

“The impact his death has had on us as a whole in the policing community is a reminder every day of the risks that we take and you just never know what will happen,” she said.

Pure Athletics manager and trainer James Kapacila said the gym was very proud to provide a space where the community could gather.

“It’s pretty much the least we can do for the people that passed away that don’t get the chance to do anything like this ever again,” he said.

The gym has done similar events in the past for fallen members of the Canadian and U.S. military, as well as more recently for former Carlton teacher and mentor Victor Thunderchild, who died from COVID in April.

“I was just actually speaking to a member who said it gave her some perspective while she was doing the workout. When she got to the pain cave a little bit, she decided that she could push a little harder for them,” Kapacila said.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell