Friends, family and co-workers are mourning the loss of a forestry worker who passed away this week following a logging incident on northern Vancouver Island.
United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 says 46-year-old Lonnie Hryhroka was “seriously injured” on April 13th while on the job near Port McNeill working for Holbrook Dyson Logging.
According to the union, Hryhroka succumbed to his injuries at the North Island Hospital in Campbell River this past Monday, April 25th, calling it “a heartbreaking and unnecessary loss.”
“Sending love and strength to Lonnie’s family, loved ones, community and the local union during this difficult time,” United Steelworkers said.
Hryhroka’s wife, Barbara Paige Labbey, took to Facebook, saying she’d greatly miss her husband. “He was a gentleman in a true sense of the word. RIP our beautiful angel,” she wrote.
A few days after the incident, Labbey set up a GoFundMe in hopes of raising $20,000 to aid in Hryhroka’s recovery. At the time, she said he was suffering from 16 broken bones in his spine and kidney failure.
Despite her husband’s passing, Labbey says she’ll keep the fundraiser open to donations to help her through this trying time in her life.
