Now that next month’s Jelly Roll show at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines has been sold out, those who were lucky enough to nab tickets are being urged to wear pink in support of The Heather Winterstein Foundation.
Pink was the favourite colour of Winterstein, a young Indigenous woman who died while awaiting treatment in the emergency room at the St. Catharines hospital.
“We think it’s a wonderful idea to get this interactive idea out to the public to wear pink to the concert to remember Heather at this huge event,” Jill Lunn said on behalf of the foundation.
Lunn, Winterstein’s aunt, is director of the foundation.
“We believe we need a lot of help to reach everyone who are planning to come to this show, as people will be travelling some distances to get here because this is such a historic event,” Lunn said.
The foundation will also be putting in a request for a special illumination of the Horseshoe and American falls on July 8, the day of the show. The illumination would be pink along with a colour of Jelly Roll’s choosing, Lunn said.
She also suggested fans could create a short video welcoming Jelly Roll to the area and tagging the artist, as well as including the hashtags #HeatherWinterstein, #jellyroll #benefitconcert #heatherwintersteinfoundation #Niagara.
The foundation was created to honour the legacy of Winterstein, who was 24 at the time of her death, in December 2021. She had been brought via ambulance to the emergency department at what is now known as the Marotta Family Hospital, complaining of back pain. She was given Tylenol and sent home. She returned to the ER the following day and later collapsed and died on the emergency room floor. It was later revealed that she had died from a Strep A blood infection.
A coroner’s inquest has been called to investigate the circumstances surrounding Winterstein’s death. The date of the inquest has not been announced.
With support from the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre, the foundation aims to support Indigenous prevention programs and healing services; advocate for Indigenous health services locally, provincially, and nationally, and offer scholarships for Indigenous individuals pursuing post-secondary education institutions in the fields of nursing and medicine.
More information on the foundation can be found at www.heatherwintersteinfoundation.org.
