Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown was, like every other Canadian, shocked and saddened when he heard the terrible news on Friday night.  

The bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team to a playoff game in Nipawin was broadsided by a semi-truck, the horrific crash leaving 15 people dead and 14 more, including Airdrie's Ryan Strashcnitzki injured.

"It's really hard to put into words. It's overwhelming, it's unbelievable, it's horrific. It hits close to home. Everyone can relate to what's gone on here because it's so personal."

The reason for that, Brown said, is because every sports team rides a bus.  "We all have our kids in team sports and they go to tournaments. I don't think Airdrie Minor Hockey has a team, other than maybe the younger ones, but the older teams usually are in a tournament and you're riding a bus. You're having fun and you're not thinking about things."

Brown said time is the only thing that can help the community of Humboldt heal. Time and the love of Canadians, which they're feeling so much of now.

"I heard the GM of the team last night and he said 'time' is the number one healer of things.  I think that you get strength from knowing there's a lot of people in the world that are supporting you right now.  I'm honestly at a loss for words, just because of the magnitude and devastation.  I can't imagine what they're going through, but, as I said, when you know that the love and support from millions of people around the world are hitting your community. I know it doesn't change anything but you've got to know that they're behind you and that's a wonderful thing and something you can build off of. In the interim, it's going to be very challenging, especially for the families."

Brown said Airdrie will definitely offer support to Humboldt but he wants to find out exactly what they need before anything is sent.

"Certainly we're reaching out, but the worst thing you can do is send resources if they're not needed. I think the best thing to do is to listen to the people who are on the ground, the people doing the investigations and that type of thing. I'm certain that they'll be adequately resourced, but certainly, from the community's perspective we're definitely going to offer but I would suspect that they have all that they can handle right now." 

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