Grief and grace
“Dear Mom, I wish you had been there.”
Joannie Rochette
Olympic medallist
Joannie’s bittersweet Olympic moment
A heartfelt loss
Joannie Rochette’s mother died of a heart attack just two days before her Olympic skate. But Joannie took to the ice — and made history. Her heartfelt words to her mom and bittersweet Olympic moment are captured in this video.
In her own words…
- Q Just as your career was peaking at the 2010 Olympics, you lost your mom. Was there any warning?
-
A
We didn’t see it coming. In my mind, heart disease was an old man's disease. I didn't think of my mom being at risk. But now when I think back on it she was a heavy smoker, wasn’t eating very healthy and she was stressed. She was always worrying about me for the Olympics also. Looking back, knowing what I know now, maybe I could have seen it coming a little bit more.