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“It’s a good thing and Bo is a caring guy,” Hughes said. “He likes doing stuff for people like that so I’m not surprised by it.”

The Riders have invited the family members of the 29 people on the bus, the first responders who were at the scene of the accident, and community leaders from the Humboldt community to the game. It’s expected that 250 people will be at Mosaic Stadium as the Roughriders’ special guests.

It won’t be the first time the team has paid tribute to Humboldt. On June 3, the Riders travelled from their training camp in Saskatoon to conduct a walkthrough and community barbecue in Humboldt.

“It was a great experience,” Hughes said. “You could tell that the city is in mourning and that a lot of people are really hurting. It affected a lot of people. Just to be there and to help brighten their day was a great feeling.”

Mitchell said that CFLers have also been impacted by the accident.

“It hits close to home for a lot of guys because we all rode those buses growing up in some point of our lives,” he said. “It’s a terrible tragedy that we hope we can shine a bright light on.”

One of the victims in the tragedy was Broncos athletic therapist Dayna Brons, who had helped out the Riders at their 2016 training camp.

Her parents, Lyle and Carol Brons, were at Friday’s game. They took part in the ceremonial coin toss that included Mitchell and both teams’ captains.

“It’s amazing that they had the courage to do that,” Mitchell said of Brons’ parents. “They are trying to show that they are going to step up and get back to how they do things. It’s going to take time and it will be a long process for them. Just to see that happen was pretty awesome.”

Mitchell recently welcomed the addition of a baby girl to his family. Perspective as a parent has impacted his perception of the Broncos’ tragedy.

“Those parents lost older boys and they had done so much with them,” Mitchell said. “That makes it hard for every parent to see and it makes you want to enjoy every day a little bit more.’’

mmccormick@postmedia.com

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