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Fr i d ay, Au g u s t 15, 2 014 · ma pler id g enew s. co m · est. 1978 · (office)604-467-1122 · (del. )604- 4 6 6 - 6 3 9 7
Gift from ‘warrior princess,’ lives on Teen’s final wish saves horse By S tep h Trou g h ton newsroom@mapleridgenews.com
The name of a teen who recently died of cancer, now lives on in the name of a Pinto saddlebred mare that she helped rescue. Hunter Birosh died July 21 from adrenal cortical carcinoma – a rare type of cancer that attacks the adrenal glands. She was Heather Birosh’s only child. “Keeping Hunter’s legacy alive is now my life’s mission,” she said. “I’m going to spend my life keeping her memory alive.” Hunter’s legacy includes volunteering for the North Fraser Therapeutic Riding Association. Her mom said her daughter was often at their stables doing chores such as cleaning the stables or walking the horses. From the age of three, Hunter was
passionate about the outdoors and animals, particularly dogs and horses. In memory of her 19-yearold “warrior princess” daughter and in keeping with her last wishes, Heather gave $500, saved by her daughter while she was able to work, to J&M Acres Horse Rescue. That donation helped save the mare, that was on its way to being slaughtered for meat. The donation covered the cost to save the animal as well as shelter and food costs until she is adopted. The horse is now named Hunter. Heather wants to stay active and credits her daughter’s memory with the will to carry on. She’s working on other donations that she can give in her daughter’s name to groups that promote the outdoors or animals. J&M Acres volunteer Amy Lizee and co-workers were touched by the donation. “It’s an honour to be someone’s last wish.”
Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Heather Birosh honoured wishes of her daughter Hunter by giving a timely donation that saved a horse from slaughter. The pinto, that now bears Hunter’s name, is being cared for at J & M Acres Horse Rescue where volunteer Amy Lizee helps out.
Nurse sentenced to house arrest Gets six months for kissing, touching patients By M o ni s ha M a r tin s mmartins@mapleridgenews.com
A former nurse who kissed two patients while they were sedated was sentenced Wednesday, a year after he was convicted of sexual assault. Abihudi Imbai was handed six months each for two counts of sex-
ual assault, but will serve the sentences concurrently and not spend any time in prison. “I am satisfied that you serving the sentence in the community will not endanger the safety of the community,” said Judge Garth Smith as he sentenced Imbai in Port Coquitlam provincial court. Imbai’s lawyer Daniel Markovitz had sought a conditional discharge for his client, which would have kept his record clean, but also argued to keep Imbai off Canada’s sex offender registry, a request which
Smith rejected. Imbai, 35, was convicted on two counts of sexual assault last August after a three-day trial. Known on the ward as “Nurse Abbi”, he inappropriately touched and kissed two sedated women at Ridge Meadows Hospital on June 11, 2012. The court heard Imbai administered opiates to both women then proceeded to caress their faces and kiss their lips as they slipped into sedation. In her stupor, one woman tried to push Imbai away but he continued to touch her. The second woman
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“He abused his position of trust. He was aware of the sedative effects of the medicaiton.”
Garth Smith, provincial court judge woke up to find Imbai lying in her bed, with his head between her breasts. Imbai’s lawyer argued the for-
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mer registered nurse believed he was doing nothing wrong. He suggested the incidents were a cultural misunderstanding. Markovitz told the court Imbai was a good man, with strong connections to his family and church. He claimed no sentence would punish Imbai more than he had already been punished. A pre-sentence report found that Imbai was a “low risk” to reoffend but noted his denials of the offences make it hard to assess his risk. See Nurse, p4
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