“The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods,
For nothing now can ever come to any good.”
From a poem called ‘Funeral Blues’ by W.H. Auden, read by one of Reilly’s friends at this Oct. 9th bench dedication.
By Doug Draper
A poem read tearfully by a friend, prayers and remembrances, and the tossing of rose pedals into the sun-kissed waters of the nearby river while someone strummed a guitar and sang ‘Amazing Grace’.
Niagara Falls MPP Kim Craitor joins Reilly's mother Denise, Reilly's brother Kain and father Tim for unveilling of memorial bench along Niagara Parkway in Fort Erie, Ontario. Photo by Doug Draper
More than 150 friends and supporters gathered with members of the family at the head of the Niagara River in Fort Erie, Ontario on this warm and sunny October 9th to celebrate the unveiling of a memorial bench in Reilly Anzovino’s name.
Reilly was the 18-year-old college student whose death following a traffic accident in her hometown of Fort Erie l last December 26th amplified concerns about the closing earlier that year of the emergency rooms at what are left of the hospitals in Fort Erie and Port Colborne.
Reilly’s death – sometime during or after the extra time it took to ambulance her to an emergency room in Welland – has also galvanized south Niagara residents in their ongoing fight for a return to fairer, more accessible acute-care services in the region’s south end.
This Oct. 9th, however, was more about celebrating Reilly’s life and dedicating a bench along the upper Niagara Parkway where friends and relatives can go from here on to share fond memories of her. It was about “remembering what a blessing it is to share a relationship with her,” said Darren Atherton, a cousin of Reilly. “This is more of a day of celebration than it is a day of defeat, he said.
Gathering at memorial bench unveiling
Reilly’s mother Denise told Niagara At Large that with Reilly “in charge of the weather … the ceremony was everything we hoped it could be (with) with people who care in our community gathered around a bench in honour of Reilly.”
“We are so proud of Kain (Reilly’s brother) and (her) friends for their strength and their commitment to friendship and love and support. …. They have been by us all these months, making sure we are able to move forward, even though they carry around as much or pain than anyone.”
Niagara Falls Liberal MPP Kim Craitor joined Reilly’s family for the unveiling of the bench. It was Craitor who approached Niagara Falls Labour Charitable Foundation, a group he has been a long-time member of, to purchase the bench.
Also present in the gathering was Fay Booker, the recently appointed chair of the Niagara Parks Commission, the Ontario body responsible for protecting and preserving lands along the Canadian side of the Niagara River corridor. The commission approved the memorial bench.
The gathering also included members of the Yellow Shirt Brigade, a Niagara south residents’ group fighting for hospital services. Some told this reporter at the end of the bench unveiling they are determined to keep fighting for a return of emergency services so that no one else has to be kept wondering, like Reilly’s family, if she would still be alive today if ER services were still open on that fateful night in Fort Erie or Port Colborne.
If they succeed in their fight then, contrary to the last line in Auden’s poem, something good can come from this tragedy.
The circumstances surrounding Reilly Anzovino’s death will be explored at an Ontario Coroner’s Inquest at a date that has yet to be scheduled.
(Visit Niagara At Large at www.niagaraatlarge.com for more news and commentary on matters of interest and concern to residents in our greater binational Niagara region.)
Niagara At Large 
I have just watched the gathering for Reilly on Cogeco, Reilly puts a face on the sad situation that we find ourselves in, no Hospital services available to 45 thousand residents of Fort Erie and Port Colborne this is a failure of government to give equal access to medical treatment in a speedy manner we have to go for the head of this night mare scenario Dalton Mc.Guinty and his accolytes, in Provincial Government.Election year is next year.
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I have just watched the gathering for Reilly on Cogeco, Reilly puts a face on the sad situation that we find ourselves in, no Hospital services available to 45 thousand residents of Fort Erie and Port Colborne this is a failure of government to give equal access to medical treatment in a speedy manner we have to go for the head of this night mare scenario, Dalton Mc.Guinty and his accolytes, in Provincial Government.Election year is next year.
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We have been told over & over again we in Fort Erie and Port ColAborne are resisting change which is inevitable…… I disagree….. change is good , but in our case it is VERY BAD !!! We do not have enough of any medical service to accomodate and facilitate our Communities!!!!! Yet our tax dollars keep rising, our needs don’t disappear and the services are diminishing or disappearing. As in Reilly’s case ambulance service was not adequate enough to help save her life……why not…… are we 2nd rate citizens that have to wait in line for services that were available here in F.E.
before the ” raping of our hospital”!!! Is this the wonderful change that’s supposed to be GOOD for us who are told we are uninformed & just don’t understand the BIG PICTURE!! I do not wish ill will on anyone but would ask the NHS, LHIN, HIP and our GOVERNMENT to stand in the shoes of the Anzovino Family and reconsider what their ” NEW SYSTEM “
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We have been told over & over again we in Fort Erie and Port Colborne are resisting change which is inevitable…… I disagree….. change is good , but in our case it is VERY BAD !!! We do not have enough of any medical service to accomodate and facilitate our Communities!!!!! Yet our tax dollars keep rising, our needs don’t disappear and the services are diminishing or disappearing. As in Reilly’s case ambulance service was not adequate enough to help save her life……why not…… are we 2nd rate citizens that have to wait in line for services that were available here in F.E.
before the ” raping of our hospital”!!! Is this the wonderful change that’s supposed to be GOOD for us who are told we are uninformed & just don’t understand the BIG PICTURE!! I do not wish ill will on anyone but would ask the NHS, LHIN, HIP and our GOVERNMENT to stand in the shoes of the Anzovino Family and reconsider what their ” NEW SYSTEM ” is doing or has done for Fort Erie & Port Colborne!!! Everyone from Fort Erie to St. Catharines is feeling the domino effects of the ill thought out plan that is NOT WORKING for anyone!! How can it be said that progress is being made when waiting rooms are overflowing; very sick people are jammed into any nook or cranny ; Dr.’s and nurses are overworked , overtired and unable to handle the work load; Ambulances are gridlocked one behind the other waiting to unload patients BUT unable to “BECAUSE THERE ARE NO BEDS” to put them in AND they cannot leave until a bed IS available or a Dr. to see them!! PLUS the fact they KEEP CUTTING BEDS!!!! If you need an ambulance and they are in line with a patient waiting to get into the hospital …. TOUGH….. YOU’RE JUST OUT OF LUCK!! This is how our present wonderful system that MILLIONS of our tax dollars are supporting is run ! How does that sit with you???
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Hamilton too is experiencing similar difficulties in regards to hospital reorganization by the McGuinty government, LHIN board ,and government appointed administrators. A young boy suffered an asthma attack in the east end of Hamilton. His father rushed him to the hospital but on the way the child stopped breathing and the father stopped to administer/or get help. Good samaratins came to his aid and the ambulance arrived and got the boy breathing again. He was rushed to the hospital where he regained consciousness only to fall immediately into a coma and then died. The crime? When the father stopped he was one block from the Hamilton General Hospital where immediate medical help could have changed the outcome of this tragedy. The boy was instead transported another twenty five minutes to “McMaster Children’s Hospital”. Critical care time was lost, wasted to reorganization of facilities. The father did his best, the Samaritans did their best, the ambulance drivers did their best, the doctors and nurses did their best. Who failed this family? The McGuinty government and this ridiculous nonfunctional reorganzation of services. They are now working in the Kitchener, Guelph area to “reorganize their system. Where does all this nonsense stop? We need an election NOW, not next year.
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