She was born in Burnaby, BC and lived most of her life in New Westminster, BC.
She will be lovingly remembered by her parents, Ken Elmer and Janet Neufeld, along with her brother, Jonathan. Relatives include Auntie Merian, Uncle Neill and cousins Christie, Tila and Kerry together with their families; Great Aunt Irene, Great Uncles Dale and John and their respective families. Also included are her many Baergen and Neufeld cousins.
Many friends will also miss this vivacious young woman who loved people and who found friends wherever she ventured - in school, sports, work and travel. This includes Pickle the cat who was her soul mate for the past 2 years.
Shannon attended New Westminster Secondary School and in her senior Grade 12 year was the only girl in the school’s history to play 5 senior sports ( soccer/ basketball/ volleyball/ track and field/ cross country.) She was awarded “outstanding athlete” every year from Grade 8-12.
Shannon attended UBC on a track scholarship and was a starting/scoring member of the cross country team in every meet during her 5 years at the university. She finished 6th in the Sun Run 3 times, ran in the North American/ Central American Championships in the Dominican Republic and competed in the World Mountain Running Championships in Turkey.
Shannon auditioned for the reality show, Wipeout Canada and qualified. Over a week she competed in Buenos Aires and finished 5th out of 20. She then toured Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru for 6 weeks on her own meeting up with her parents in Lima.
Machu Pichu was the next adventure and then it was back to UBC for her teacher training year.
Shannon was an excellent snowboarder who continued to challenge herself on the toughest runs at Whistler and Blackcomb. On April 11, 2015 Shannon was standing at the side of a run when she was hit by an out of control skier breaking her back at the
C5 level.
She was helicoptered to VGH and doctors did not expect her to survive the night.
Shannon fought for her life those next few weeks in ICU and eventually was transferred to GF Strong which is noted to be one of the best rehab centres in North America. She worked very hard there and was determined to return to teaching elementary school children even as a quadriplegic.
The last 3 years she received contracts from Vancouver School Board for afternoon classes only as she now required morning time with her care aids. She loved her primary classes and the kids loved her as well.
Shannon travelled to over 60 countries in her life. She taught with her dad in Egypt for 6 months and then journeyed to Vietnam and China to also teach and explore.
Always she kept in touch with parents and friends. Sometimes paper napkins arrived “snail mail” style giving a personal touch with her handwriting informing you of the latest crazy thing she was doing.
While travelling the world Shannon would often research and taste the most popular dishes from that country. Upon return she began creating meals that always made it exciting to be present at her table. If you weren’t there - she would send you several photos and you’d wished that you had. In later years, when she physically wasn’t able to cook, she would still instruct her care aids and ask friends to help out. She never lost her excitement about food and often her international care aids would be happy to show her some of the foods from their country.
She always had projects going - including making and selling pesto and salsa !
Still, she managed to volunteer at one of the Vancouver Food banks one day a week.
Shannon’s favourite place to travel was Lindell Beach on Cultus Lake. A cabin was purchased in 1985 and together with her brother and friends had many adventures and water balloon fights. Even after her accident she loved to be driven out and spend time with some of the residents she had known over the many years.
She loved the water and was so happy to discover a specialized kayaking programme that she could participate in these past few few summers. The location was on False Creek, just a quick chair “zoom” away from her Gastown condo. Upper body workouts were her forté and two years ago she set her own personal record of forty times on the water with family and friends in a 2 seater kayak!
In life she was an Earth Angel who cared, loved and helped the many that she knew but she also reached out to everyone. She always had a spark to her life but the last 5 years this changed to a flame that displayed strength and determination in always wanting to do her best.
Shannon has earned her wings. She is pursuing her many passions of running, snowboarding and water sports.
Shannon would have been 36 years old on January 5th and so her wings “blew” out her candles. She lives on in our heart.
The family wishes to thank the many many friends for their love and support. Also, a heartfelt thank you to the medical teams of physicians, nurse/practitioners, nurses, OT’s, PT’s and care aids who have assisted in creating a better life for Shannon.
We miss our brilliant, vibrant, crazy sense of humour, precious Shannon.
Sweet dreams my Sweetpea / Monkey.
La la salamma. 💕
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
Abraham Lincoln
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to support the GF Strong Rehab Centre/Spinal Cord program , in memory of Shannon Elmer at VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.
Donate at vghfoundation.ca/shannon-elmer, by calling 604-875-4676, or by mail to VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, 190-855 West 12 Ave, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9.
Partager l'avis de décèsPARTAGER
v.1.11.6