Heroism and tragedy of 1918 Spanish flu remembered in N.L.

Ethel Dickinson was one of hundreds of people who died when the Spanish fluripped through Newfoundland in 1918.

The virulent influenza pandemic is estimated to have killed between 20 to 50 million people worldwide.

The names of many people who died have been forgotten, butDickinson's sacrifice has been immortalized.

This is a woman who basically gave up her life to work with the sick influenza patients.- Larry Dohey, archivist

She contracted the flu and died at the age of 38 in October 1918 while volunteering to help the growing number of influenza patients in the city.

She's named on a monument in St. John's that celebrates her sacrifice. It's deep in the east end of the city, in Cavendish Square,behind parking meters and obscured by trees and shrubs.

Most people don't know it's there, but local archivist Larry Doheysays people shouldseek it out.

"This is a woman who basically gave up her life to work with influenza patients. She didn't have to do it,"saidDohey, the director of programming and public engagement at The Rooms cultural facility.

"She had already given her service over at the hospitals in Europe. She'd seen the suffering over there, but she came home and volunteered again."

Dohey saidalmost 1,600 people onthe island of Newfoundland wereinfected with the Spanish flu andit's estimated that more than 200 of themdied.

But the flu hit Labrador even harder.

A disaster for theInuit

More than 500 Inuit, about a third of the Indigenous group's population in Labrador, diedafterpassengers infected withSpanish flu arrivedin coastal communities by boat.

Angus Andersen, who is Inuk, grew up in coastalLabrador hearing stories from his grandparents about what they saw when the flu hit.

When you lose a third of your population that'sa big impact. We lost culture, heritage and language.- Angus Andersen

Andersenpaints a vivid picture of the apocalyptic event in Labrador. Sled dogs that were used to hunt and travel were abandoned as their ownersdied. They became feral and dangerous.

"When Ihear the stories of the people who survived, it's like a horror movie," Andersen said.

"Wild dogs starving husky dogs actually breaking in and jumping though windows of houses to eat the dead bodies. Survivors had tohunt them down and kill them. They killed hundreds and hundreds of starving dogs."

Many Inuit communities, like Hebronand Nutak, lost a great number of residents,but no community suffered a deeper blow than Okak.

It's reported that before the flu arrived, 263 people lived in Okakafterthe pandemichit, fewer than 60 people were left.

Andersen says his grandparents recounted that dealing with all the corpses in Labrador called forextraordinary measures.

"After they collected all the bodies. It was impossible to bury them one at a time. My grandma said they dug a giant hole and to do that they had to light a big fire to thaw the permafrost. They dug a big hole and put all the bodies in there and covered them up," he said.

No one lives in Okak now.

Tragic as it was,Andersen says the 1918 Spanish flu should be remembered to underscore the importance of preventative medicine, such as vaccinations.

Andersen says the pandemic has left a deep scar onthe Labrador Inuit culture

"We lost a lot of history.When you lose a third of your population that'sa big impact. We lost culture, heritage and language."

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