Olivia Steadman, who grew up in Pembina Trails, brings down the house singing the national anthem at Jets-Kraken game

Did you get to see Olivia Steadman sing the U.S. and Canadian national anthems at the Jets-Seattle game last week?

If you didn’t, you may have read about her incredibly inspiring story in the Free Press or watched clips in social media or saw her inspiring story on the news.

If this is all new to you, you should know at that game, 22-year-old Olivia Steadman got to fulfill her dream of singing the national anthem at a Jets game, thanks to the kindness of Jets co-owner Mark Chipman who graciously made Olivia’s dream come true; the unending support of Olivia’s amazing family; the organizations (like Inclusion Winnipeg and the Movement Centre of Manitoba) that have helped Olivia and her family on their difficult journey; and the many teachers, EAs, counsellors and other supports in Pembina Trails who have nurtured Olivia’s love of singing for most of her young life.

Olivia’s entire education has been at Pembina Trails, having attended Whyte Ridge, HGI and Vincent Massey.

Olivia is blind from birth and has other serious challenges in her life because of suffering a stroke in her mother’s womb.

But last Thursday, none of that mattered. Her singing voice brought down the house. Olivia sang both anthems with confidence and a tonal quality that brought people to their feet and tears to their eyes.

Olivia’s uplifting story has gone viral, and that’s because it was a genuinely beautiful moment.

Olivia was given a chance and she knocked it out of the park. She has worked on her singing voice for many years, but she needed a break to showcase her beautiful singing voice. Mark Chipman gave her that break, and we are all better for it.

The reaction to Olivia’s beautiful voice has been so overwhelmingly positive that Chipman wants her to sing next season when the Jets are on national TV.

Well done Olivia Steadman and thank you Mark Chipman.