Blackville reeling again after father, daughter die in raft accident

The Blackville community is in mourning again after the death of a 55-year-old father and his 29-year-old daughter on Tuesday.

Blaine Sturgeon and his daughter, Falon, died after a homemade raft overturned on the Miramichi River in Gray Rapids, just north of Blackville.

It's the latest in a string of recent tragedies for an area that's overcome with grief.

"Well, it's not easy," said Keith Gallan, a neighbour. "It's a great community here. They pull together, you know? It's terrible when you've got to get through this stuff. And everybody knows everybody."

Blackville reactions

6 years ago

Duration 0:56

Listen to reactions from Blackville residents - a small, close community in mourning reeling from fresh loss.

As condolences pour in for the Sturgeons, the community finds itself at a loss for answers.

"Within the last year there's been so much death, so much tragedy here, and young people. I don't know what's going on," said neighbour Peggy Curtis.

"And the thing with this raft, it's just bizarre. Nobody can figure out or understand why? Why?"

According to the local MLA's office, a community healing service will be held at the Blackville municipal park on the evening of July 16.

The Sturgeons are being remembered by neighbours and community members as good, caring people. Police say they were from the White Rapids area, about 12 kilometres north of Blackville.

"Really nice, really nice people," Curtis said. "Really good man he was, good father. Never had any trouble with them. They're just great people."

Cause of death

Eight people were on the wooden raft when it overturned shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday, RCMP Cpl. Jullie Rogers-Marsh said.

Six people made it to shore on their own, and FalonSturgeonwas pulled from the water and given CPR.

"She was transported to hospital, where she was pronounced deceased," Rogers-Marsh said. "The cause of death has been confirmed to be a drowning."

A short time later, Blaine Sturgeon'sbody was found in the water, she said.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.

No one else was injured in the incident, which the Northeast District RCMP are still investigating.

Eye-witness accounts

Danny and Beverly Coughlan were waiting near the river, watching for the passing raft Tuesday afternoon. Danny Coughlan was peering through binoculars to spot the raft when he saw it flip, taking all eight people underneath, his wife said.

He immediately waded into the water and pulled out Rhonda Sturgeon, Blaine's wife. Falon Sturgeon was given CPR, but later succumbed, according to Beverly Coughlan.

It just seems like it's one after another, it's terrible.- Christopher Hennessy, Blackvillemayor

Blaine had been trapped underneath once it had flipped, she said.

Danny Coughlan said the raft appeared to be sturdy and wide and was kept afloat by barrels.

Rogers-Marsh said neither victim was wearinga life jacket when the raft overturned. She did not speculate on whether a life jacket could have made a difference.

Tragedy strikes again

This is the second tragedy the Blackville area has been forced to deal with in recent days and the fourth in less than a year.

Over the weekend,14-year-old Thomas Anthony Dunn died after his dirt bike and a car collided at the intersection of Hallihan Lane and Howard Road in Blackville.

In May, 18-year-old Marshall Curtis of Gray Rapids was killed in a car crash, and Darren Brophy, a fellow 2017 graduate of Blackville School, died last fall.

"It's definitely a state of loss and a sad time for us," Blackville Mayor Christopher Hennessy said in an interview with Information Morning Moncton.

Hennessy wouldn't comment on the raft accident but described the three previous deaths as "a shadow over everything."

"It just seems like it's one after another, it's terrible," he said. "We really haven't gotten over it."

The mayor's hopeful the community will rally and residents will support each other.

"All we can do is stick together and hope for the best," he said.

The funeral for Dunn will be held on Thursday at St. Bridget's Roman Catholic Church in Renous.