Don Young, paramedic, prospector and friend, passed away on February 23, 2006 in Smithers. He had spent the last six months with his friends J and Evelyn Boddy, who supported him through the final stages of lung cancer. Don was born in Croydon, England in 1942. He traveled the world after reading History at Oxford University, and finally settled on Babine Lake near Granisle in the 1970s. Don got into his first profession at the Bell Copper Mine, as a first aid attendant. He continued in the field for the next 25 years, and worked as an ambulance attendant in Granisle for 21 years. At the same time, he pursued a career in prospecting. That work took him around the world, including Yemen in the Middle East and Belize in Central America. He worked as a prospector in northwestern BC from the 1970s until cancer forced him to give it up in 2005. Don was known for his uncompromising intellectual approach to life, an ironic wit and love of fine gin. He had a minimalist approach to the necessities of life and maintained his independence until the end. Don died at the Boddy’s with his friends around him. He received wonderful care from the teams at Smithers homecare, palliative care and the cancer clinic at the Bulkley Valley District Hospital. Don is survived by his sister Joan Garvey and niece Jennifer Garvey in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, nephew Peter Garvey in Leesburg, Virginia, niece Michelle Cristerna in San Francisco and cousin Jenny Kent in Kent, England. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made Bulkley Valley Hospice Society, Box 8, Smithers BCÂ V0J 2N0.