Brandon man remembered as selfless, motocross fan

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This article was published 22/05/2021 (1707 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon man is being remembered as selfless and “tough as nails” after he died earlier this week.

Eric Fardoe died in a head-on collision while returning from northern Manitoba on Wednesday, friend Tyler Plante said. In response, Plante and other friends started a GoFundMe campaign for Eric’s family.

“Oftentimes when people pass away you talk about how nice a person was and how good a person was, you’re thinking about all the best times, but when we say it about Eric we really mean it,” he said.

“He was just a good person and I’ve said it 100 times. He was the guy I would call no matter what. He would drop what he was doing and he would come help and he wouldn’t want anything.”

Eric was a plumber by trade but was also a big part of Brandon’s motocross community, Plante said. He was also a “farm boy” and was always eager to help someone in need.

Plante said he and Eric became friends through their wives. It was an “oddball” friendship as Plante, who played professional hockey, said he and Eric didn’t share many interests, but they always got along well.

“He was tough as nails and he knew nothing about hockey, I knew nothing about motocross and we would entertain each other’s interests because we were good friends,” he said. “We were just very odd friends who didn’t share hardly any interests and got along so well. That’s what made it work.”

Eric was a great cook, Plante said, but the last meal the two had together didn’t go 100 per cent to plan. Eric made pulled pork, but Plante joked the meat wasn’t tender enough and turned into “cut pork.”

Brady Breemersch said he met Eric through motocross, a sport Eric competed in. It’s a tight-knit community, and the support has been amazing.

“Eric was a very outgoing person, a huge smile, not afraid to come right up and talk with you, start a conversation, help you with absolutely anything,” Breemersch said.

“Whether it was anything to do with your house, camper, RV, on your bike — mechanically, he was very inclined and he would just drop anything for anyone.”

Breemersch also described Eric as one of the most selfless people he ever met.

As of Friday afternoon, the fundraiser started by Eric’s friends had raised approximately $88,000 for Eric’s family from the more than 500 people who had donated.

The goal is to raise money for Eric’s family, including his wife, Stacy, and his two sons, Wyatt and Walker. Eric was a big family man, Plante said, and would do anything for his wife and two sons.

“When we set it up the idea was the boys would be looked after, to give them a good start,” Plante said.

“I would give any amount of money to get my friend back and I’m glad we’re helping. At the end of the day, money does nothing. Right now we’re all hurting and our hearts are bleeding.”

The fundraiser was started by Tyler Plante, Jordana Plante, Brady Breemersch, Alleah Mckague, Shay MacAulay, Cody MacAulay and Scott Norosky.

The online fundraiser can be found at https://gofund.me/0770ce66.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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