‘She changed hundreds of lives’: Cape Breton fitness enthusiast and legal assistant cry | SaltFil

SYDNEY – There was one word Terri Jackson would never allow in her life and work: “I can’t.”

That’s how close friends and colleagues best summed up the Glace Bay fitness enthusiast and MacKenzie Morgan Inc. legal assistant, who died on Wednesday after a month-long illness. Jackson was 51 years old.

“She was the embodiment of a human being,” said Kerri Bryden-MacDonald, who first met Jackson when she joined Glace’s CrossFit D10 fitness and nutrition center as a trainer. Bay in late 2015. “We started D10 together – her, myself and Keely Wadden. Terri was not only the heart of the community, but the glue that held us together.

Bryden-MacDonald said anyone who comes to D10 for training or fitness advice and has to deal with Jackson is always met with a genuinely caring soul and positive motivation.

“She just believed in everyone,” Bryden-MacDonald said. “There was no one who would walk through that door that she didn’t believe could do anything. No one was allowed to use the word “can’t”; it was not a word she would use. She said there was no such thing; you could do anything.

“The passion was so contagious”

Wadden, owner of the CrossFit D10, remembers Jackson as being very passionate about fitness and personal well-being, not only for herself but for everyone she trained.

“His passion was so contagious,” Wadden said. “She was so passionate about life.

Wadden praised Jackson for, in his words, building D10 “from the ground up and she was everything we as a gym and community wanted to represent and strived to be.

“She has been the heart and soul of our community since day one. She has transformed hundreds of lives by giving people the tools and confidence to live healthier, happier lives.

Jackson has taken his fitness expertise beyond the CrossFit D10. Wadden noted that Jackson worked with many of Glace Bay’s minor hockey teams training on dry land and “was so well respected by kids, coaches and parents.”

Wadden said Jackson was “warmly” called “The Warden”. “When she spoke, people listened and respected what she had to say, but in a friendly and very kind way,” Wadden said.

“And she was a real athlete, whether it was baseball, hockey, golf, etc. Everything she touched, she did well.”

“Community Society”

Jackson could be found smiling alongside the 2014-15 Glace Bay Miners A-2 Midget Hockey Club after winning the Cape Breton Cup that season. And according to James Edwards, deputy mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and president of the Glace Bay Minor Hockey Association, Jackson played a key role in lending his fitness expertise to a summer hockey camp held last summer.

“She was such a community-minded person,” Edwards said. “She not only taught these kids about fitness in the physical sense, but also about mental fitness and the preparation aspects.

“And she was just a naturally kind person, with an infectious smile, so friendly and kind. Our community is certainly in mourning.

Many who knew Jackson as friends or coached by her paid tribute on social media with a weightlifting profile picture of Jackson covered in a “#caption” thumbprint.

‘Genuine, genuine’

Darren Morgan, a lawyer with Sydney-based MacKenzie Morgan Law Inc., first worked with Jackson 20 years ago, a few years after Gerard MacKenzie opened his own law firm. Prior to this, MacKenzie worked with David L. Parsons Law Inc., where he remained until 2009.

“I did my internship there and worked a lot with Gerard, so I had contact with Terri, who was the paralegal,” Morgan said. “She was the most honest, sincere and genuine person I have ever known. She was incredibly generous, selfless and helpful to everyone.

---

“She has transformed hundreds of lives by giving people the tools and confidence to live healthier, happier lives.” -Keely Wadden

---

When MacKenzie included Morgan in his firm, Jackson was also hired as a legal assistant. After MacKenzie’s death in 2011, Morgan took over the business.

Morgan praised Jackson for his strong work ethic. “The paralegal doesn’t do her justice at all,” he said. “From 2011 she was basically my right hand. She became my office manager and as someone else said she didn’t believe in ‘can’t’. She would put in her effort and apply her talents until she masters things.

Friendly and caring

Morgan also recognized his athletic talents, particularly in golf. But what really left a lasting impression on him was how kind and caring Jackson became with many of the company’s customers.

“She was the kind of person who, if you had never met her before, after 30 seconds of talking to her, you felt like she was a friend for life. And she made people feel that. people — and it was genuine, never fake,” Morgan said.

Morgan added that her company will miss her dearly. “Even until a month ago when she got sick, she was still working with us from home,” he said. “I’ve never met anyone with that kind of work ethic.”

Jackson, who would have turned 52 on New Year’s Eve, is survived by her husband, Keith, and son Christian, 23. “They were all a team and she loved them so much,” Wadden said.