 Shayna Conway is wheeled out of a Jan. 14 memorial service for Tanner Craswell, Mitch Maclean and Tabitha Stepple, who were gunned down by Derek Jensen on December 15th in a triple murder suicide in Claresholm, Alta. (STUART DRYDEN/QMI AGENCY)
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CALGARY — After getting shot three times in a roadside triple murder-suicide and spending several weeks in hospital, the lone survivor of the Claresholm, Alta., massacre will continue recovering in a new home alongside her family.
Habitat for Humanity in P.E.I. announced Tuesday it has approved the family of Shayna Conway, 21, for a house.
Conway's mother had applied in 2011, months before Derrick Jensen's Dec. 15 highway shooting rampage that killed Tanner Craswell, 22, Mitch Maclean, 20, and Tabitha Stepple, 21.
Jensen, 21, also shot Conway three times before turning the gun on himself.
"Certainly now, they need this even more than before," said Susan Zambonin, executive director of the P.E.I. Habitat for Humanity.
Conway is still recovering here in Alberta and is expected to return home to P.E.I. at the end of the month, at which time her family will meet with an occupational therapist to begin drafting layout plans for a bungalow that will meet her medical needs.
The non-profit group is reaching out to landowners and philanthropists in P.E.I. and Alberta for land or cash needed ahead of a March meeting to name committee members who will oversee the three-week build, expected to begin in mid-July or early August.
Zambonin said the tragic shooting didn't play a role in the board's decision, which was made based on family files that contain no names.
"On the island, everyone knows everyone," Zambonin said.
"It's not very often someone on the board doesn't know one of the people being presented, so we always do it anonymously."
Under the terms of the agreement with Habitat for Humanity, Conway's mother, Sheri Wade, is required to pay a mortgage, interest free, and to pay it forward with 500 volunteer hours.
