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Father of Castlegar’s New Year’s baby dies after short battle with cancer

A fundraiser launched this week to support the family of Steve Walker
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Steven Walker died after a short battle with colon cancer. Photo: GoFundMe screenshot

A fundraiser launched last week to support the family of Steve Walker, the Castlegar father of the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital’s New Year’s baby, has raised about $100,000 in its first week.

Walker, 39, died Jan. 15 after a very short battle with colon cancer.

He leaves behind wife Tiello, 20-month-old son Beau and newborn daughter Reign.

“He was the most compassionate, endearing, hilarious and lovely human,” says the GoFundMe page organized by relative Jennifer Opsahl.

According to the post, Walker went to the doctor in December 2022 after feeling unwell. He was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. He was admitted to the Trail hospital on Christmas Eve and then sent to Kelowna General Hospital on Jan. 11. He died just a few days later.

Walker was born and raised in Trail, but was living with his family in Castlegar.

As a former Selkirk Saint, Walker was known to the local hockey community and the Castlegar Rebels donated all the proceeds from their weekend games to the Walker family and a second Castlegar family facing a tragedy, the Mullaney family.

Ashley Mullaney, Habib Moonflower and their newborn son were killed in a highway collision on Jan. 16 in Thrums. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the sole survivor of the crash, two-year-old Meadow Moonflower Mullaney.



betsy.kline@castlegarnews.com

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Betsy Kline

About the Author: Betsy Kline

After spending several years as a freelance writer for the Castlegar News, Betsy joined the editorial staff as a reporter in March of 2015. In 2020, she moved into the editor's position.
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