Renfrew – He was a farmer and it appeared like he was at all times on a tractor. He was a superb scholar who deliberate to work on the household farm whereas on the similar time earn a diploma as a licensed welder. He might be a typical pain-in-the-ass teenager after which a minute later he was a smiley, energetic brother to his three siblings. He was goal-oriented and he was beneficiant.
His identify is Patrick John Arie van Lindenberg and with out warning, this larger-than-life 15-year-old died abruptly whereas on a date contained in the historic O’Brien Theatre in Renfrew. His tragic demise has galvanized an outpouring of neighborhood assist.
Round 8 p.m. final Thursday, a chaotic scene inside and outdoors the theatre was unfolding. Minutes earlier, Patrick was seated together with his movie-companion and abruptly he was silent, non-responsive and he stopped transferring.
A 911-call was positioned and minutes later, members of the Renfrew County Paramedic Service and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) arrived. They made their means inside on the similar time theatre employees have been shortly escorting all patrons out of the constructing. Paramedics assessed the state of affairs and started essential life-saving measures in an effort to revive the younger man.
OPP officers canvased the situation and questioned patrons and mates of Patrick as they tried to determine what led as much as his sudden collapse. In the midst of all that confusion, somebody contacted his older sister Hannah and knowledgeable her of Patrick’s state of affairs.
Dealing With Sudden Demise
As paramedics tried to revive Patrick, his sister Hannah started calling and texting their mom, Angela Subject. On this night time, she was Councillor Angela Subject, one in every of 5 members of Admaston/Bromley Township council. She was attending a 7:30 council assembly and about half-hour into the assembly, she obtained a name from her daughter. Seconds later, she obtained one other name from the identical quantity.
She did her finest to disregard her daughter’s cell quantity, but it surely appeared once more. As soon as she learn her daughter’s textual content telling her it was an emergency, she scrambled to pack up her supplies.
“I knew it was something serious for Hannah to keep calling me and when I read that text, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I wrote a short note to our CAO telling her there was some type of emergency and I had to leave. She said ‘no problem’ and told me to get going.”
Combating again tears, she recounted how her life utterly modified in a matter of minutes in downtown Renfrew.
“I knew,” she mentioned as she wiped away the tears of a mom who realized her “mother’s instincts” have been right. “My intestine informed me he was gone even earlier than I spoke with the paramedics. I requested them if Patrick had any vitals from the time they arrived till they started life-saving measures. They informed me none have been recorded.
“Patrick was transported to RVH (Renfrew Victoria Hospital) and the trauma team did everything they could, but nothing could be done. My oldest son was gone and I felt like my whole life has just been stuffed into a blender and spit back out.”
Household Devastated
The hospital ordered a toxicology display and it got here again detrimental for medicine in his system. Patrick died from an undiagnosed enlarged coronary heart. For some unexplained purpose, his coronary heart stopped.
“We were told Patrick’s heart was enlarged. The doctors have no idea how long his heart was enlarged or how it happened. He might have been born with it or he might have developed a virus. We likely will never know. It doesn’t really matter how he died or why he died. We have to accept it and now try to move forward as a family.”
Even in the midst of the worst time of her life, Ms. Subject mentioned there’s one silver lining.
“When it happened, it is likely Patrick didn’t feel a thing and it was over,” she mentioned. “I couldn’t ask for more.”
She and her husband, Berend van Lindberg, needed to share the devastating information with their three youngsters, eldest daughter Hannah and Patrick’s youthful siblings, Jonah and Leila.
“Those conversations are the cruelest ones any parent would ever have to go through,” she mentioned. “When your children ask why and you can’t answer that one simple question, the pain of looking into their eyes cannot be described. They all took it hard and this past Monday Leila planned to return to school, but after a short while, she went back to bed.”
Born and raised in Sudbury, Ms. Subject has had a gentle circulation of members of the Subject household travelling from the Sudbury space to the farm. They have been joined by others who the household barely knew, however they needed to assist any means they might.
Berend van Lindenberg, son of the late Arie van Lindenberg, started informing his household and mates in Canada and the Netherlands a number of hours after Patrick’s passing. His mom nonetheless resides within the space. His mother and father moved to Renfrew County in 1988 and together with their three youngsters, began LindMilk Farms.
His late father succumbed to his sickness in September 2009, 10 months from the time he was identified.
Nevertheless, his passing didn’t sign the top of LindMilk Farms as a result of his two sons, Berend and Matthjis, assumed management of the operations. The farm remained within the household.
“When Patrick was born, we named him Patrick John Arie van Lindenberg,” Ms. Subject mentioned. “Both his grandfathers died from cancer. Arie was diagnosed in November, 2008, just two months before Patrick was born and my dad (John Field) was diagnosed four days after Patrick was born. Arie only got to meet two of his grandchildren (Hannah and Patrick) and my dad died in 2018, but at least he got to know Patrick.”
Together with the 200 Holsteins that dwell in the primary barns or spend time roaming 1,400 acres belonging to LindMilk Farms, the younger household additionally contains two canines, Vader and Radar. As Ms. Subject famous, the canines are identical to everybody else as a result of they’re feeling the results of Patrick’s absence.
“The other morning, Vader woke me up around 5 o’clock as the sun was rising,” she mentioned. “He wanted out so I let him out the back and he just quietly sat on the porch and stared straight ahead. He was Patrick’s buddy and he misses him. Our other dog, Radar is feeding off of me and has pretty much been by my side during all this.”
Bigger Than Life
When requested to seek out the phrases that finest sum up her son, Ms. Subject didn’t hesitate when she mentioned Patrick was ‘larger than life.’
“He was always full of energy, and he used that energy to pursue his goals,” she mentioned. “From the time he could walk he was always making his way down to the barn. He was at his happiest there. When he started Junior Kindergarten, he told me wanted to stay home and work the farm instead of going to school. I will never forget his first day of school when the bus pulled up and Patrick leaped off the bus. Waving his hands with a giant grin, he said he loved school and was going to go every day. He was so happy.”
Not like most children who typically do their finest to keep away from doing chores, Patrick embraced the chore listing.
“He learned to operate and drive some farm machinery by the time he was five years old and when he got home each day from school, he headed straight to the barn and got to work,” Ms. Subject mentioned. “Then he would hop on his dirt bike and ride around the farm in the warm months or drive a snowmobile during the winter.”
With 4 energetic youngsters, Ms. Subject has solely needed to cope with emergency sirens twice throughout her time as a mom. Each occasions, the ambulances have been dispatched for Patrick.
The primary time was in late December 2022. He was driving his snowmobile alongside the property line when he misjudged the terrain and was thrown greater than 30-feet from his sled.
“We called 911 right away because we knew he was in bad shape,” she mentioned. “He had 5 damaged ribs, a collapsed lung, a ruptured spleen and 4 fractures in his pelvis. When the paramedics arrived he was loaded up and one in every of them mentioned ‘straight to CHEO with lights and siren on.’
Regardless of his accidents and several other medical doctors encouraging him to bear a number of surgical procedures, he and his mother and father opted for him to return again house after every week within the hospital.
“I want to go home mom,” he informed me. “We took him home and he was up on crutches in less than two weeks and by the end of February, he regained most of his mobility without crutches. It didn’t take long before he was back on the snowmobile and I wanted to say no, but he was determined. The doctors told us that his recovery was very rare and they could not explain his rapid progress.”
Ms. Subject mentioned one in every of her son’s finest attributes was his dedication to succeed in any objective he set for himself.
“When he was 12 years old, he wanted a dirt bike to drive around the farm,” she mentioned. “Next thing I know he went out and got some chickens and he sold enough eggs to buy a dirt bike. Although he almost died while driving a snowmobile, he saved up enough money to buy a Polaris 850 snowmobile. When he put his mind to something, there was no stopping him.”
Neighborhood Help Is Overwhelming
After greater than an hour sharing her recollections of her late son with this reporter, Ms. Subject mentioned her son’s demise is just not actually newsworthy.
She mentioned it’s a horrible nightmare that she would by no means want on anybody, however she mentioned the actual story is what is going on behind the scene. She mentioned individuals ought to learn concerning the beneficiant members of this close-knit agricultural neighborhood and the way they’ve made it a precedence to indicate their assist for her household.
“I had absolutely no idea how many friends I have…the last few days have been overwhelming not just for me, but for all of us,” she mentioned. “I come from Sudbury and didn’t develop up on a farm. After I see postings about planning a procession of automobiles alongside Foy Highway and driving previous our farm, I’m left speechless. We’re all going to be on the market on the finish of our laneway on Tuesday (final) night time.
“Our relatives from Sudbury and Holland will see what I have been trying to explain to them, but they really don’t understand. I am telling them because this outpouring of community support does not happen where they live,” she mentioned. “At present, they’re in the midst of an agricultural neighborhood and they’ll see we’re half of a bigger household. Our neighbours and a few individuals we have now by no means met are going to indicate us simply how a lot they care.
“Patrick was half of a bigger neighborhood, a neighborhood that can assist one in every of their very own in occasions of disaster. I get messages of assist from individuals I might by no means anticipate to listen to from. No person requested the organizers to do that and from what I hear, the numbers simply preserve getting larger each hour.
“I really don’t know if I’m prepared or how I will react when the procession makes its way to our farm. Who knows, I may break down when they drive by…but I am not going to ask them to call it off. They are hurting inside to. They understand what happened to Patrick could happen to anyone, even their own children. This is how they are dealing with this tragedy and that’s okay with me.”
A second procession is scheduled for at this time (Wednesday) and will probably be a farm-equipment solely caravan leaving ProTyre in west finish Renfrew at 4 p.m. and travelling via the downtown to the Armouries about an hour later.
A Celebration of Life in honour of Patrick is scheduled for at this time (Wednesday) at 5 p.m. It’s going down on the Armouries and most procession drivers will attend. The celebration is open to all.
At seven o’clock, household buddy Julie Keon will lead “Words of Remembrance” the place she’s going to attempt to make sense of a tragedy that has been felt all through the world.
The van Lindenberg household signal, situated on the entrance to LindMilk Farms on Foy Highway, was the unofficial ‘Welcome Mat’ final Tuesday for a protracted procession of automobiles stuffed with neighbours and strangers who handed by to pay their respects to the reminiscence of Patrick van Lindenberg.
Life Goes On
What has gone unnoticed is the van Lindenbergs personal and function one of many bigger dairy farms in Renfrew County. As tragic as Patrick’s demise is, the 200 cows are detached. They nonetheless need to be milked twice a day and so they nonetheless get hungry. As properly, they need to be routinely examined to make sure they’re in good well being.
“Life goes on and the cows don’t know we are grieving,” Ms. Subject mentioned. “A few of us have to make use of each ounce of power simply to get away from bed to face the day. I can solely say thanks to everybody who helps. Since we misplaced Patrick final week, I can’t even recall once I did the common farm work to maintain our operation operating.
“Family, friends and a few people I don’t know have been in and out around the farm and they are taking care of the animals and everything else so that we can take care of each other. I honestly don’t know what we would do if we didn’t have this kind of support.”
Whereas this reporter and Ms. Subject have been taking a brief break whereas sitting at a desk on the entrance of their house, a tractor pushed by a scholar made its well past us. A number of seconds later, a cattle transport truck drove in and parked at one of many barns. A person stepped out of the barn and helped the driving force load a calf on to the truck.
It was later found the person was Tom McLeese.
Mr. McLeese labored for the household a number of years in the past and when he heard about Patrick’s demise, he drove from Dacre and did most of the similar duties he did years in the past. The distinction is that this time he was not being paid.
“Like everyone, I couldn’t believe it,” he mentioned. “I worked here and I know what it takes to keep this farm running. It’s hard enough when things are good and I can only imagine how hard it has to be to keep going while dealing with Patrick’s death. It’s impossible. I will keep coming up from Dacre until I know they are ready to go.”
An Superior Day
Regardless of having to make it via the worst day of her life, she considers herself lucky.
“My last conversation was him trying to convince me he was going to hang out with the guys, and I could tell there was more going on,” she mentioned. “When he got home from school he told me he ‘aced’ his final exam and he would not be going to school (Renfrew Collegiate Institute) the next day.”
Earlier than he received able to go to the flicks that night time, he satisfied his mother to let him drive the household’s latest automobile across the farm. Ms. Subject reminded him he was solely 15 and an individual needs to be 16 and licensed to have the ability to legally function a automobile.
“He was determined and I knew he would keep asking so I let him drive the car around the property and I made sure he was driving slowly,” she mentioned.
Ms. Subject knew her son was planning one thing, and he or she tried to determine it out.
“We brought home some pizza as I was running behind for my council meeting and Patrick ate his pizza pretty fast,”she mentioned. “I used to be in my bed room preparing and he was within the lavatory brushing his tooth. I requested him who he was going to the flicks with and he mentioned just a few buddies.
“I knew he was up to something and I said to him, ‘I don’t think you are brushing your teeth for your buddies, dude.’ “He mumbled through his toothbrush and again he insisted he was going with some buddies. I just nodded my head and dropped it. I had no idea that would be the last time I talked to him.”
As she neared the top of this interview that stretched out to nearly 90 minutes, Ms. Subject mentioned up till he collapsed within the theatre, Patrick had what she considers ‘an awesome day.’
“It is going to sound weird, but Patrick had an awesome day last Thursday,” she mentioned. “He did nice on his take a look at, he raced house to do farm chores; he drove our new used-car on the age of 15, he ate pizza…and he went on a date. Patrick had an excellent day and it’s tragic we misplaced him so abruptly. However he had one in every of his finest days and when he left us, he didn’t really feel any ache.
“Proper now he’s together with his two grandfathers and he’ll get an opportunity to spend time with Arie, one thing neither of them received to do. He was fortunate he received to spend time with my dad earlier than he died.
“All I can say is if you come to the Celebration of Life, be positive like Patrick. Most of all, celebrate his memory and cherish every moment of every day with your family. I found out just how fragile life is and how your whole world can be turned upside down in a matter of seconds.”
In keeping with his mother and father, Patrick was born to be a farmer. Not solely might he function many of the equipment and superior technological gadgets used on a contemporary farm, he might deal with a new child calf as simply as he might experience his filth bike or snowmobile.
