Canadian actor and Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds was in Cobourg on Sunday (September 14) to share heartfelt words about a nine-year-old Grafton girl he befriended and to help officially open the Grace Bowen Arena at the Cobourg Community Centre, which was named in her honour.
Grace Bowen, who played with the West Northumberland Girls Hockey Association, passed away from an aggressive form of bone cancer in 2015. Reynolds, who is a friend of the Bowen family, made a virtual delegation before a committee of Cobourg council on behalf of the family earlier this year suggesting the Pond Arena be renamed to recognize the young hockey player.
The motion was passed unanimously at a later meeting of council.
On Sunday, Reynolds joined the Bowen family, Cobourg mayor Lucas Cleveland, members of council members and staff, and other invited guests at the Cobourg Community Centre on D’Arcy Street for the official renaming ceremony. The event was emceed by Trudy Stacey of the West Northumberland Girls Hockey Association.
“She changed my life,” Reynolds said, noting Grace would be 20 years old today.
“I’ve never really been able to put into words what it is that she did, but she just kind of changed the way I saw the world. She helped me kind of understand where to channel curiosity and to filter it through like a prism of compassion.”
Reynolds first met Grace when she was a guest of Canadian hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser at the 2014 Canada’s Walk Of Fame ceremonies, where both Wickenheiser and Reynolds were inductees.
As a result of meeting Grace, Reynolds began his tradition of making funny fundraising campaign videos in support of SickKids, where Grace received 11 months of treatment, often featuring a signature ugly Christmas sweater.
Since then, he has helped raise more than $3 million for SickKids through a combination of personal donations and his promotional efforts to encourage others to encourage others to donate.
An emotional Greg Bowen, Grace’s father, who was joined by his wife Andrea and their daughter Mackenzie, spoke about both the impact of the renaming of the arena and the family’s appreciation for Reynolds’ 11 years of friendship and his efforts to bring smiles to other sick children and their families as well.
“I’ve spent hundreds of hours on that ice with a broken heart,” Bowen said about the loss of his daughter.
He recalled seeing Grace in the arena one time, on crutches, thinking it might be her last — and it was. But Grace will continue to be a part of the arena for years to come. In addition to the sign above the arena, Grace’s silhouette is etched into the glass doors of the rink.
“Today is a very special day, for the Bowen family, and our entire community,” said Mayor Cleveland.
“Today we honour the legacy of nine-year old Grace Bowen, in the place that she loved and where she played her favourite sport — hockey. Today we remember her tenacity, her passion for life and the game of hockey, her kind and caring nature for others, and her relentlessness in everything that she did. She embodied the very meaning of her name — Grace.”
The ceremony was available for the public to watch via a livestream displayed on the Bowl Arena’s score clock. Following the ceremony, the Bowen family dropped the puck for a half-hour scrimmage game with Grace’s teammates. The public was invited afterwards for a free one-hour public skate in the newly renamed Grace Bowen Arena.
