The family and friends of Blake Sewell (far right) will never forget the popular young Osoyoos man who was laid to rest on Saturday following a long battle with numerous serious health issues. Sewell is seen above with his best friend Dustin Currell (third from left) Keenan Currell and Tyler Fecyk (far left) as they dressed up to watch a wrestling card at the Sonora Community Centre in 2014. (Richard McGuire file photo)
A young man from Osoyoos who touched the hearts – and lives – of so many people during his 26 years on Earth was laid to rest before a packed house of family and friends this past weekend.
Blake Sewell passed away last week after falling into an induced coma several weeks ago.
Sewell had been battling numerous medical issues over the past several years, said his best friend and longtime roommate Dustin Currell.
Currell said Sewell was one of the first people he met during a vacation trip to Osoyoos seven years ago when he and a large group of friends came up from Abbottsford for summer vacation.
“He thought I was a weirdo and I thought he was one too,” said Currell following Saturday’s funeral that attracted hundreds to St. Anne’s Catholic Church on Saturday.
“I was a stranger to him from Abbottsford and I was a bigger guy than him and was wearing an ear ring and we didn’t hit it off that first night at all.”
But that all changed the next day as they began a friendship that last more than five years and became closer with each passing day, said Currell.
“The next day after meeting Blake, me and a bunch of my friends who were all very hungover walked into the Buy-Low grocery store and Blake was there and he was just so friendly, even though we hadn’t exactly got along the night before.
“He talked to all of us and insisted we all go out again that night. I got to see what a really nice guy he was and we met up later that night and we hit it off big time.”
Currell decided during that weekend that he wanted to live in Osoyoos and he got a job as a bartender at The Owl Pub and Restaurant – a job he still holds today – and he and Sewell have spent literally thousands of hours together there over the past five years.
Four years ago, he and Sewell became roommates and their friendship and bond has grown to the point he could hardly put into words, said Currell.
“He’s just the best guy … and the best friend you could ever ask for,” he said. “He’s been through so much over the past few years, but it never affected our friendship. I have no problem saying that even though we were polar opposites, he was my best friend in the world.”
Sewell handled his serious medical issues over the past several years with grace and dignity, said Currell.
“He just saw it as something he had to deal with and get through so he could get back to being healthy and normal again,” he said. “He wasn’t happy about it, but he would soldier on. He was a very tough kid who had to go through so much, but he never stopped being Blake.”
Currell said he and Sewell’s family and large group of friends were thrilled to see an overflow crowd show up for Saturday’s funeral.
“I knew it was going to be a packed house,” he said. “He knew almost everyone in town and he was a very popular guy. I’m a popular guy in town, but Blake’s way more popular.”
He’s going to miss Blake for the rest of his life, said Currell.
“It’s going to be really tough not having him there when I come home,” he said. “I grew up so much and developed as a person living with him and having him as my best friend.
“I’m going to miss playing video games, I’m going to miss him being my taxi service when the bars shut down. I’m going to miss him at volunteer fire practice. I’m just going to miss everything about him. He was a great guy.”
Because he endured so much over the past few years, Currell said his family and closest friends can take peace in the fact Blake doesn’t have to suffer any longer.
“He’s at peace now … and won’t have to be in pain any longer,” he said. “He had been through a lot and it’s kind of comforting to know he no longer has to battle.”
Currell said he will always smile when he thinks of Sewell’s passions in life that include bacon, Power Rangers, Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Canadian band Nickelback.
“People always asked me why I lived with Blake,” he said. “He never smelled the greatest or dressed the coolest or drank with the team. I think I admired just how real he was.
“Nobody understood our friendship. He made my life so happy. Blake was pure and genuine. He was a big part of my life. I’m so fortunate to have have known this young man and too have developed with him.”
Brian Fry, the manager at the Osoyoos Buy-Low Grocers store, said Sewell was not only a loyal and committed employee over the past decade, but a wonderful young man who made the customers smile on a regular basis.
“He was an honourable and trustworthy young man and there wasn’t anyone who worked in this store who didn’t like him and that says a lot,” he said.
One of his fondest memories of Blake will be the time Jim Pattison, the man who owns the Buy-Low grocery chain and is one of B.C.’s most successful business owners, visited the store in Osoyoos.
“Blake walked right up to him, shook his hand and told him, ‘I’m going to be president of your company one day,’” said Fry.
“Mr. Pattison looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘I like this kid and we need more like him working for us,’”
The store won’t be the same without him, said Fry.
“He is going to be sorely missed around here,” he said. “He was one of our best and most popular employees and it’s just not going to be the same without Blake here running the show.”
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
Blake Sewell and Dustin Currell. (Photo supplied)
