It was only days after celebrating his first wedding anniversary that 24-year-old born-and-bred Richmondite Chris Ekren embarked on a fateful hunting trip near Squamish that would take his life in a freak car accident.
It was a trip that also involved a harrowing tale of survival and one that left his family and many friends in disbelief.
“He would have been an amazing father,” said Chris’ dad, Chad Ekren, while speaking to the Richmond News about two weeks after the Sept. 15 accident.
In his short time, Chris touched many lives.
He graduated from Richmond Christian School and played minor hockey for both local organizations, Richmond and Seafair, while growing up near Palmer secondary. He played guitar in his band Faint Echo, which was connected to his church community, and was an up-and-coming tradesman, having started his own framing company Forefront Framing in Ladner, where he recently moved into a condo with his wife, and one and only love, Marie Skerl, a local photographer whom he met at school.
Looking at a photo of the two, put on the coffee table by Rose Mary, Chris’ mom, Chad pondered a lost future with the children his son was planning to have.
And he attempted to rationalize what happened while holding back tears several times.
He finds an ounce of solace that Chris, a “level-headed” and “generous” man, had grown up, lamenting that the weekly Seattle Seahawks games they watched together were “great memories,” but were fewer and fewer as the seasons passed.
That’s because, as Chad explained, “When your children grow up . . . you grieve when they want to spend more time with friends, you grieve when they move out, but, you’re elated when they marry. You know they are to become one with their spouse.”
Chad said he “had an eye on” Marie in the early days the couple were dating and knew she brought out the best in her son.
“When he was young we called him Tigger; he was just so full of life. As he got older there was more a quiet demeanor. But when he met Marie friends said that demonstrative side started coming out,” he said.
Chad said Chris employed four young construction workers at his upstart company and was told Chris made work sites a pleasure to be at, despite the hard labour.
Chad doesn’t seek one explanation for what happened, although the obvious one, to an outsider, is that Chris wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
“They were on a dirt road; you’re hunting, you want to get in and out of your car,” he said.
Chris and one of his young employees, 19-year-old Liam Dennison, were on the hunt for game on a forestry road north of Squamish when, at dusk, the shoulder gave out, sending his truck, with Chris in the passenger seat, tumbling down a 150-foot embankment.
It was a freak accident. Speed and alcohol were not a factor.
“It was just dark, on a dangerous road, too close to the edge and the truck went down.”
Chris died on impact. Dennison suffered serious injuries, including seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and a torn-up knee. Unable to crawl out of the wreckage, Dennison slept in the truck's bed overnight and spent the morning hours trying to pull himself up to the road where he heard the odd truck pass by. He was miraculously found by a forestry worker at noon after spending two hours laying on the side of the road where he collapsed in pain.
Chad and Rose Mary saw Dennison on Wednesday to check in, share memories and, importantly, convey to the young man that there is no fault. Rose Mary said Skerl has also been strong and supportive of Dennison.
“Our family is prepared to walk with him through this process,” said Chad.
On Saturday, Sept.30 those who knew Chris are welcome to attend a memorial at South Delta Baptist Church at 1 p.m.
