Jordan Camille often took his horse Rory out for tasks assigned by the T'Kemlups te Secwepemc.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Candice Camille
January 15, 2020 - 2:00 PM
Within seconds of receiving a strange phone call from her husband who had been out all day, Candice Camille dialled 911.
“He was extremely disoriented and he hung up on me... He just said, ‘I just woke up and I don't know where I am,’ and then he hung up the phone on me, so I knew something was massively wrong with him,” Camille said.
Her husband Jordan is contracted by the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc band to round up and rescue feral animals and loose livestock. On Sunday, Jan. 12, he was called out to find some horses that had been trapped in an area and couldn’t access food.
That day happened to be the windiest day in recorded history for Kamloops, and temperatures dropped to nearly - 17 C.
“His short term memory came back enough and he was saying the last thing he remembers is tilting his head down because he had a hat on and he was trying to protect his eyes with the brim of his hat," she said.
"That’s the last thing he can remember is the snowstorm hurting his eyes.”
What Jordan doesn’t remember is the moment he and his horse were struck by a train on the Canadian National railway near Rayleigh. When Jordan called his wife, he didn’t know what was going on, let alone that his horse Rory had died.
“He’s doing remarkably well, considering. He has a broken shoulder and lacerated kidney and he had a severe concussion when he was brought in. The concussion side effects have really diminished his short term memory,” Camille said.
“The doctors still have him at the hospital because they’re just keeping an eye on the kidney.”
As he slowly recovers, he is learning what happened that afternoon. The family, who focus their lives on horsemanship, are devastated by the loss of Rory.
Rory was one of the main pillars of the business and lifestyle the family created over the last few years.
“We always knew that Rory was going to be what we call a lifetime horse... we have a lot of horses that come and go, it’s part of our business," Camille said. "But you always have house horses who you know are going to stay with you for as long as they can.”
Rory and the Camille's five-year-old son Hunter had a close bond.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK / Candice Camille
The Camilles got Rory when he was a yearling, which was around five years ago. The family’s youngest son Hunter, 5, had a very strong connection to the horse.
“Hunter outright claimed him out of all of the horses. He said, ‘Rory’s mine.’ He’s been pretty firm on that all the way through the years to the point where if he caught us riding him he would remind us that Rory is his horse and we were only allowed to borrow him to do what we were doing,” Camille said.
Now, the family is dealing with the death of Rory and trying to figure out their financial plans while Jordan recovers. Camille said they’re not yet sure of how long the recovery will take and said her husband can’t work until his injuries are fully healed.
Camille works as a photographer, and her works will be on display at the Kamloops Courthouse Gallery starting on Jan. 29 and running until Feb. 22. There, she will display and sell photographs of many of her own horses, as well as others. Other than that, she said the family doesn’t know what to expect for income.
A GoFundMe has been set up in hopes of easing financial difficulties during the time and has reached more than $12,000 in one day.
"It has been a lot, there have been so many people who have come forward to offer their love and support and it has really been almost overwhelming how many people are stepping up to be there for us.”
For more information on the accident, click here.
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