Thursday, October 22nd marks a solemn anniversary in the National Capital; the day gunman Michael Zehaf-Bibeau stormed Parliament Hill, after killing Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Plans are underway for a public service at the site of the shooting. The service will begin at 11 a.m. at the National War Memorial near Parliament Hill. Road closures will be in effect shortly after 10 a.m. This will be a sombre ceremony to reflect a sombre day that changed the lives of all Canadians, especially those who were on the scene the day Nathan Cirillo was shot. Memories come flooding back to Martin Magnan, horrible images that re-play in his mind as though it were just yesterday.
‘I was actually walking by here, part of my routine,’ Magnan recalls of that day, on his way to a meeting walking right by the War Memorial ‘then the shooting started.’
In a span of mere minutes, innocence was shattered. A gunman, inspired by Islamic extremists, fired three shots into the back of 24-year-old Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was standing guard at the National War Memorial. The killer then stormed Parliament Hill, before dying in a hail of bullets.
Martin Magnan was part of a group who rushed to Cirillo's side, trying desperately to save the young reservist.
‘I was told to pick up his legs and he was a beautiful, strong young man,’ says Magnan, clearly reliving the moment, ‘so I picked up his legs and they were heavy and I really had to get underneath there, and I was told to lean him up higher to keep blood in his torso and I held onto his hand as well.’
Cirillo died in that attack. Two days before that, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was deliberately struck and killed by a car in St-Jean-sur-Richielieu,Quebec. It was a chain of events that changed our sense of security.
Carl Michlethwaite is a tourist from England, visiting the War Memorial today. He recalls hearing news of the shooting in his hometown of South Yorkshire.
‘It was absolutely shocking, horrific,’ he says.
‘I would never expect that to happen in Ottawa,’ says Kelowna visitor Bob McTiernan, who had been at the War Memorial the day before the shooting happened.
Thursday, this nation will reflect and remember those horrifying moments and those two men who died protecting their country. The ceremony will begin with a marching contingent that will include members of the Argyll and Southerland Highlanders, the same unit from Hamilton in which Cirillo served.
The Governor General will arrive at 11. There will be a fly over by CF-18s, along with prayers and wreaths laid. The families of both victims are expected to attend.
Martin Magnan will be there as well along with the others who helped that day; paramedics, police and strangers, bonded in a chaotic traumatic moment they hope will never happen again.
‘It’s part of my life and part of my history,’ says Magnan, standing in front of the War Memorial today, ‘and I hope it makes me a better person at the end of the day, I do.’
