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As many of you know, we’ve lost a member of the CHCH News family. Nicola Jones had a prescription for peace. But in the end, there was no cure for the cancer that took her life.
Nicola died Sunday in Mexico where she had traveled to undergo surgery that she hoped would save her life. On this day, memories and moments staff and viewers have of Nicola were being shared with smiles, and tears.
But we’re starting a look at Nicola’s life and reflections on her from those who knew her best.
Nicola: “This is my new favourite sport. I am not kidding and you know what? I am keeping the boots. Try to catch me.”
That’s the Nicola Jones people are remembering today.
Whether it was chair racing during commercial breaks, dancing with minions, or playing in the snow.
Nicola knew how to have fun and had a laugh that was contagious.
Bob Cowan: “She loved to have fun at the workplace or at home with her son Christian.”
She’ll be remembered for her great sense of humour and her kindness and compassion.
Bob Cowan: “When she was battling this cancer, she would be asking how you were.”
Mike Katrycz, CHCH Vice-President, News: “She used her celebrity I guess and she used that to help and do good in the world we saw that with her blog and things like Food for Kids she supported charities in a big way.”
Nicola joined CHCH in 2001 as an original member of the Morning Live team.
Mike Katrycz: “She stuck me immediately as a woman of poise, beauty, intelligence and wit and that’s why I hired her.”
In April, she announced she had an aggressive cancer and would be stepping away from CHCH to devote her energy to battling it.
Nicola: “Honestly, I was completely overwhelmed. I wasn’t expecting so much love and so much thoughtfulness. I can feel your prayers and I think about you every day.”
Bob Cowan: “She said our love the viewers and the staff at CHCH that love was her miracle she felt it and it really sustained her through all of this.”
Lesley Stewart: “She loved being a mum first and foremost. That’s the hardest part for me in all of this is to think about Christian her son and that was a big deal for Nicola she always wanted to be a mom.”
Throughout her battle with cancer, Nicola stayed positive and shared updates on her blog. The last thing she told a friend before she left for treatment in Mexico was this: “I don’t want you to remember the ugliness and the pain, I want you to remember the beauty, so much beauty, that so many people have shown. If there is something I have learned from this experience it is how truly beautiful humanity is”
Brittany Gogo: There’s a fundraiser planned at Liuna Station on October 28th to celebrate Nicola and help cover her medical expenses and air ambulance flight to Mexico. Her friends at Moksha Yoga Hamilton are also holding a fundraiser the first weekend of November. They’ll be donating all of the money from classes that weekend to Nicola’s family. Nicola was 41 years old. she’s survived by her parents, her sister, ex husband, her 9-year old son and of course her many friends here at CHCH. It’s been a difficult day for all of us. But we have found comfort in sharing stories about Nicola. So I would like to share mine. In one of the last messages we exchanged, she wrote to me that the pictures I post online of my son ‘make her smile daily’. A message that shows Nicola’s positivity and kindness.
