Memorial cruise the 'coolest' tribute for young couple killed in TCH collision
Brendan McLean would have been in his element: new cars, old cars, loud cars — even one just like his, a Subaru Forester.
By all acounts, his girlfriend Bre Horne would have played along, and encouraged her partner's deep passion.
Those vehicles made quite a racket as they peeled out of Gander's Steele Community Centre on Sunday night, heading in a line toward the Trans-Canada Highway.
If only he could see it.
'I think he'd give me a big hug, and say man this is the coolest thing you ever could have done for me'," said Joshua Mai. "He loved cars, all kinds of cars."
On July 25, McLean, 23, and Horne, 22, were killed in a head-on collision on the Trans-Canada Highway. A 51-year-old woman from Lewisporte later died at hospital following the crash, police said.
On Sunday night, McLean and Horne's family and friends, as well as lots of acquaintances, gathered in Gander for a car meet, and then a cruise in their memory.
'It's unbelievable'
"I didn't really expect all this, honestly. I just really thought that a couple of my friends were going to get together and meet up with us here," said Mai, who helped organize the event. "The amount of people who joined the group and who are showing up to show their support, it's unbelievable."
Mai ordered about 150 stickers from a local print shop, bearing the names of McLean and Horne. He also had T-shirt and hoodies made with a photo of the young couple.
"She'd be embarrassed that so many people are here," said Stacey Collins, laughing. "She would not be happy that her face is on a hoodie."
Collins met Horne when they were 10 years old, playing minor hockey together. She said they became close in high school, and said that Horne — who she said was genuine, and always put others first — was one of her best friends.
"I know it's real, but it's hard to process in my head that I'm never going to see her again," Collins said. "I just expect her to text me, or Snapchat me, and ask how Ella is doing, my little girl."
"The last thing she said to me was how proud she was of me."
Miranda Noseworthy, another close friend, said she and Horne spent time having fires and swimming at Gander Lake. Horne was always ready for an adventure, she said.
"She's always there for you, no matter what kind of dark time you're going through. She was always there to brighten up your day — there was no way that you could be in the same room as her and not be laughing and smiling around her."
Cars always a passion
Sunday's ride left from Gander and headed toward Appleton. It passed the location where the fatal car crash occurred, and stopped at an overpass in the area — where McLean thought the acoustics were great to rev up a car's engine.
McLean's younger sister, Paige Parrott, said cars were his passion — right from the beginning.
"Every bit of this free time, basically. Even before he was old enough to have his licence, it was cars. And when get got his first Honda Civic, he was just over the moon. He loved it, just everything about cars."
There was heartbreak, too — like when another vehicle rear-ended his parked Subaru outside his home, severely damaging the Japanese import.
"He cried," his sister said. "Sorry Brendan, for telling people that. But that's how much he loved his cars."
Parrott would even trade photos of cars with her brother, even if she isn't much of a fan herself.
"He's been my best friend ever since I was born, really," she said. "It wasn't like a typical brother and sister relationship — we never argued once. We were best friends. We hung out all the time. If I needed anyone, he was always there."
She said her older brother would never leave a conversation with a stranger without a new friend. These days, she's feeling a bit lost.
"The better part of me is missing, and it's like, you know, what do I do with myself. But I gotta carry on like he would, you know? For him."
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