A decade without her daughter: tragedy of the 2013 Calgary floods
Global News
One decade ago Pighin's daughter Jacqui Brocklebank died in the swollen water of the 2013 floods.
A tree adorned with flowers branches out on the side of a now quiet waterway in High River, Alta. Ten years ago, it was anything but calm.
“It feels like yesterday. I’m in shock that it’s been ten years,” said Janie Pighin.
One decade ago Pighin’s daughter Jacqui Brocklebank died in the swollen water of the 2013 floods, her lifeless body was found not far from the tree Janie Pighin visits often.
“It will never be the same, there is always an empty chair at our table, no parent should ever have to go through this,” said Pighin.
Brockelbank had cerebral palsy but lived on her own. When the raging water began to pour into the streets of High River, she went to wake up a friend in the flood zone. Her friend survived, but Jacqui lost her life that day.
“She went into the flood to try and save someone, and she wasn’t strong enough to do that,” said Pighin “I always say, she came into this world fighting and she went out a hero.”
Five people died in the floods of 2013, and it’s been almost impossible for some to shake the trauma. But it’s not just the families who lost loved ones who have struggled: many who lost their homes and livelihoods battled anxiety years following.
“I did my research in 2018 and what I found was the community was still reeling from the effects of the flooding event,” said Katie Hayes a researcher who studied the mental health impacts the disaster had on people in High River.
