"Special Angels"

"A 25-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder after a stabbing attack in Petawawa, Ont., left one man dead and a woman and teenage girl critically injured."
"Brian David Goddard appeared in a Kingston, Ont., courtroom on Saturday morning via video from the Ontario Provincial Police detachment where he is being held, according to OPP Sgt. Kristine Rae.
Rae said Goddard, who has no fixed address, will be remanded in custody until his next court appearance on Tuesday in Pembroke."
CBC News, June 29, 2013

This home on Jan Drive in Petawawa, Ont., was taped off after Emma Guthrie, 17, was stabbed, neighbours said. (Kamil Karamali/CBC)

"[There are] special angels in this world. Ted took this on himself, and the whole community has rallied around. They've come together to help me, and I think it's awesome. I am so, so blown away."
"Telling them thank you is nowhere near the gratitude I feel. I've done a lot of crying, because it's so awesome."
"They've given me something to dream about."
Sharlene Pietersma, Petawawa, Ontario

A year and a half ago, a tragedy struck Jan Drive in Petawawa, Ontario when a teen-age girl, at home in her parents' house, was attacked and left with serious wounds. The 17-year-old had been home alone in her mother's day-care facility; there were no children present, nor was her mother at home at the time. Her attacker fled, and seeming to be looking for a place to hide, entered another home whose front door had been unlocked.

There he found an couple at home, with their two grandchildren under age ten. It took no time at all before the intruder knifed the home owner, Dan Pietersma to death, and inflicted dreadful multiple stab wounds on his wife, Sharlene. The children were left unharmed physically but carrying with them for life the dreadful scene of a violent stranger killing their grandfather, and leaving their grandmother close to death.

Sharlene Pietersma lost her husband that day, her lifelong companion, and with his loss much else that was irreplaceable, including her health. She was taken to intensive care at the hospital in town and then her family discovered the group insurance held by her husband was cancelled on his death. For the first nine months following that dreadful invasion, Sharlene Pietersma had a feeding tube giving her the nutrition she required.

A home invasion left Dan Pietersma dead and his wife, Charlene, blinded and barely clinging to life. Photo: Wayne Cuddington/Ottawa Citizen

She had lost her eyesight in the attack, lost her sense of smell, lost her job and lost the ability to swallow. Eventually, she was able to regain the capacity to swallow. She was unable to keep her job as manager at a mall store in the nearby town of Pembroke and from then on the 56-year-old woman had to survive financially on a CPP disability pension. She found herself unable to return to the home she had shared for 33 years with her husband with all its memories.

So the family looked into selling the house. When a home inspection revealed a number of serious problems with the house, the owner of Kent Construction assessed what it would cost to bring the house up to saleable condition, concluding it would be financially wiser to demolish it and rebuild. Mrs. Pietersma prepared herself for a new mortgage. But Ted Kent informed her he planned to do the job without charge.

Which was when Operation Bring Sharlene Home was launched. Mr. Kent planned to provide all labour from his company without charge. The reaction to that was that 34 companies pledged to contribute to providing a new home for Mrs. Pietersma. "I asked her, 'Out of everything in your new house, what's the one thing that you would most want?'

"She asked me to paint the bedroom blue, the colour of her husband's eyes. That tore my heart out. We're getting a photo of him, so we can match them  exactly."

SEAN CHASE/DAILY OBSERVER Doug Liot, brother of Sharlene Pietersma (right), thanks Edward Kent (left) for donating the labour and equipment necessary to tear down the Pietersma home on East Street in Petawawa on Thursday. Looking on is Sharlene's daughter, Charisma and son, Doug.