Earlier today, The Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund has donated an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to the local charity, GlobalMedic, in memory of late Oakville Fire Captain Ian Charles Shepherd.
Captain Shepherd is remembered as someone who dedicated his career to serving and protecting his community.
Early this morning, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, former and current Oakville firefighters as well as Captain Shepherd's family came to GlobalMedic's Oakville office to see the donation of the new AED device and plaque honouring the fallen Captain.
"I didn't have the privilege to know Ian personally," said Oakville Fire Chief, Paul Boissonneault, "but certainly as a fire Chief who appreciates tradition, from everything I've understood to learn about Captain Shepherd, (he was) an incredible person, extremely proficient and good firefighter, a very supportive and wonderful Captain and having a plaque of this nature associated with the gift of time, I couldn't think of anything more meaningful than that."
The AED was donated on behalf of the Dave Mounsey Memorial, founded by members of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) who sought to honour fallen OPP Constable Dave Mounsey after losing his life in the line of duty.
Before Constable Mounsey passed away, he and his partner Brenda ran a marathon so that they could donate a defibrillator to their local fire department.
Founder of the fund, and former colleague of Constable Mounsey, Sergeant Patrick Armstrong said "Even today there are volunteer fire departments that don't have defibrillators." In thinking of ways to honour the life of Constable Mounsey, Sergeant Armstrong and his team decided to "pick up Dave's last act of kindness towards his community and donate defibrillators."
Today's donation in honour of Captain Shepherd marks the fund's 180th donation.
According to a news release from GlobalMedic, "This AED from The Dave Mounsey Memorial Fund will allow us to continue safeguarding the health and safety of staff, volunteers, and visitors at our Oakville Site. GlobalMedic’s diverse group of volunteers are essential to our operation. With their help, GlobalMedic has distributed 4,742,114 lbs of emergency food aid to food-insecure Canadians."