This story is part of the “Helpers” series, which shares stories about the people making positive impacts in our community
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What if you had one more chance to speak to a loved one who has passed?
It’s a question Mark Beaulieu has seen people struggle with far too often. As a paramedic with the Nipissing District for over 40 years, Beaulieu has been present in some of the most difficult moments of people’s lives, watching them grieve in real time.
"A lot of them would say, ‘I wish I had time to say one more thing to my family or my friend before they passed,’" Beaulieu recalls. "After a while, that kind of thing just sits hard with you."
Beaulieu has dedicated his career to helping others in moments of crisis. Now, in his personal time, he has created something he hopes will offer comfort and peace of mind to those dealing with loss: a Wind Phone, quietly installed along a trail behind Canadore College, just off Cedar Heights Road.
“I didn’t tell anybody when I first put it up,” Beaulieu admits. “I had a few reasons why I did it. I’ve been a paramedic for over 40 years, and I’ve dealt with a lot of death. I wanted to create a space where people could go to speak to those they’ve lost, to say the things they never got the chance to.”
Wind phones aren’t a new concept, they originated in Otsuchi, Japan in 2010 when a man named Itaru Sasaki set up an old rotary phone in his garden after the death of his cousin. The disconnected phone was a symbolic way to speak to the departed. A year later, after the devastating 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami claimed thousands of lives, the Wind Phone became a source of solace for grieving families, and the concept has since spread around the world.
The Redbridge, Ontario, native Beaulieu says it was such a secret project that he didn’t even tell his family about it.
“I didn't want any accolades or anything. I just wanted to put it up just to, you know, just to see what people would do and, after I put it up I started to wonder if anybody's even using it. My wife and my daughters didn't even know. I had this old phone from the 70s sitting in my garage and my wife kept saying, ‘What are you doing with that?’ I said, ‘I've got some plans.’ It disappeared one day and she of course didn't know.”
One day, Beaulieu led his family down the trail where the Wind Phone stood.
“I walked them by it and said, ‘Hey, doesn’t that look familiar?’ And my wife just stopped and said, ‘Are you kidding me? You made this?’”
Beaulieu says that’s when his daughter decided to shoot a quick video and upload it to Tik Tok. Neither of them expected what happened next.
“The next morning she wakes up and says, ‘You're famous.’ You got 16,000 views.’ By that evening, there were over a million and I think right now it's like 2.6 million views. I've had comments from all over the world, and somebody from People Magazine contacted us for a story.”
The article in People Magazine was published in January, 2025 and Beaulieu says he thinks the video gained so much attention because of the timing it was uploaded.
“It was close to Christmas, so a lot of people were thinking of family at that time. It just kind of picked up steam. Social media is funny sometimes, you see something one minute and boom people move on to something else, but this obviously resonated with people. I hope it was something that touched a few people and to help them deal with stuff that's going on and to bring some peace and healing and to show people that there are other options to deal with a loss and grievance.”
Beaulieu says it’s been a surreal experience since the article came out, considering how widely known People Magazine is. “It’s a publication you see everyone, whether you’re checking out at the grocery store or sitting somewhere waiting for an appointment, that’s a magazine that’s very prominent, so to know there’s a story about me in there is a strange feeling.”
Beaulieu says he’s also heard from many people since it was released, “My boss, who is the CEO of DSNAAB picked up the story, contacted me, and asked if he could share it. So, I’ve had a few staff members reach out to me and say it was a great idea. A few of my coworkers who had no idea this was even a thing. It's reached a lot of local people, which is great because my thinking was, if I can help one other person, it's great. But by the sounds of it, it's done a little bit more than that.”
Beaulieu says he has made some changes to the Wind Phone, including adding a notebook in the booth that he made out of wood, as well as adding some wind chimes. “I put the notebook under there with some suggestions on what people might want to say. But the whole idea of the whole Wind Phone is to be private, to have a conversation with you and whoever you feel you want to and you let the wind take your voice somewhere and let it feel like you've been able to speak to someone. Because a lot of people feel that they can't speak to anybody about some things.”
Beaulieu says one of the things he’s most proud of is the fact that he hasn’t heard or seen one negative comment, in person or online, about the Wind Phone.
“Social media can be a negative place sometimes and you always see one or two comments that are so negative, but so far, nothing like that with this. That might be because of the popularity of the trail that it’s on or that people just genuinely appreciate the idea. Whatever it is, it’s been very heartwarming to see.”
If you have a story idea for “Helpers” send Matt an email at [email protected]
