An Introductory Note from Niagara At Large
The day following last Christmas, Reilly Anzovino, daughter of Denise Kennedy and Tim Anzovino, and sister of Kain Anzovino, was involved in a tragic car accident on Highway 3 between her Ontario hometown of Fort Erie and neighbouring Port Colborne. She was ambulanced to an emergency room at a hospital in Welland and died.
Many, including Reilly’s family, believe she may have survived if the Niagara Health System, the board responsible for operating many of the hospitals across the Niagara region for the province, had not closed the emergency rooms at the Fort Erie and Port Colborne hospitals with the approval of the provincially appointed Local Health Integration Network earlier last year.
A provincial coroner’s inquest into the circumstances surrounding Reilly’s death is pending and, in the meantime, members of Reilly’s family, including her teenage brother Kain, are trying their best to live on with her loss. Niagara At Large is pleased to post this piece by Reilly’s mother Denise has shared with us about the strength and courage Kain has summoned to move forward in honour of his sister.
By Denise Kennedy
It has been almost 37 years since the Ridgeway Crystal Beach High School has had a football team. The Fort Erie High School Senior team folded and the players from FESS have to join forces with the “Blue Devils” this year.
Kain Anzovino proudly wears #25 in honour of his sister Reilly. Photo courtesy of Anzovino family.
Kain has played football since grade 9 for Fort Erie, as well as the Niagara Spears for the 2009 season.
“I wanted to dedicate my season to my sister Reilly,” Kain told his father and I. “When we lose someone that is close to us, it is difficult to go on sometimes. But Reilly wouldn’t want me to give up. She would be on the sidelines cheering us on with her friends and painted faces.”
Kain and Reilly are only 17 months apart in age and grew up together very close.
Kain has chosen #25 for his uniform this football season because Reilly was killed in a tragic automobile accident this past Christmas. He wanted #26 because her birthday is January 26th and the accident occurred on Boxing Day. But that number wasn’t one of the options. “#25 is still a good number and Christmas was Reilly’s favorite time of year because we always get together with many cousins and family members to celebrate,” said Kain. “Christmas will not be the same without Reilly now, she was a lot of fun.”
Overcoming a family tragedy has been very painful, but when you have strong faith and committed family and friends, somehow you wake up every day to face it all over again.
Reilly Anzovino
We believe that thanks to the amazing school support, community support, family and great friends who stayed close to Kain throughout this time, he was able to achieve these goals.
We are extremely proud of Kain as well as his friends for being an amazing support system at such a difficult time. Reilly’s close friends come by to check in on our family from time to time and that means so much to us.
For his part, Kain says he is “proud to be a Blue Devil now and I appreciate the coaches for organizing this league. They are experienced and inspirational coaches, that means a lot to our team.”
Niagara At Large will continue to do its best to keep readers informed on the status of an inquest into the circumstances surrounding Reilly’s death and on other matters around hospital services for our greater Niagara region. You can sharie your views and concerns over the state of hospital services in our region by posting your comments below or by emailing Niagara At Large’s publisher, Doug Draper, at drapers@vaxxine.com.
Niagara At Large 
Congratulations to the Anzovino Family for pulling together and struggling on through the worst senario that a family could be in. Kain , Reilly certainly will be cheering you on in all of your endeavours and expecting you to live life to the fullest as she did . Keep her candle burning especially in your hearts!! anne
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Reilly’s death is a high profile case of a preventable and tragic experience with our disfuntional hospital system the death count of needless deaths is growing daily, I blame 2 deaths in my family to the inability of getting an emergency room doctor, we need to launch a class action suit against McGuinty, Deb Mathews, and Debbie Sevenfifer now. George Jardine
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I could not say it better than Mr. Jardine. My husband died of septic shock, kidney failure, and more. He spent 3 days in Emergency in GNGH, was transferred to ICU with a lung infection. He came into hospital with chest pain. He died in Welland after 3 days of fruitless dialysis. You are not the first to mention a class action suit and I would gladly be part of it. There are many more in the same postion who have no idea how to deal with their loss. The inability to receive redress or even acknowledgment of the wrong, only intensifies and prolongs the grief.
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Thank you Anne. George and Nancy I am so sorry for your losses, my tears fall every day without fail over losing Reilly, our only daughter, I am sorry for your pain and only hope that our tragedy’s will somehow bring down those who are responsible. How can this neglegence continue? We pay health taxes for good health care, a town stripped of it’s hospital is not good health care! We need a devine intervention of some sort. I pray that these deaths are not in vain and that there will be justice. For now there is just deep pain and untimely, unfortunate loss. We still need to wake up every day and find things to be thankful for so that we do not let this sadness consume our lives. Our loved ones are in a better place and as long as we suffer, they suffer. Don’t lose hope and keep your faith strong. I struggle with my own advice every day.
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