Citizen reporter Samantha Wright Allen won the John Collison Memorial Award for Investigative Journalism on Saturday for her series Living With Brain Injury about the efforts of local residents, one of them a teenage girl, to rebuild their lives after sustaining serious head injuries.
Wright Allen received her Ma Murray trophy at a gala in Richmond, presented by the British Columbia and Yukon Community Newspaper Association.
"Real people telling real stories about the impact of a common injury that is all too often taken for granted," said judges of the category in the BCYCNA awards publication.
"Very solid mix of personal stories, expert commentary backed up by excellent research. Required reading for the sports community."
Wright Allen also took silver in the feature series award category for her work called Life After Lakeland.
"I've been lucky working at The Citizen," said Wright Allen.
"It can be difficult in a daily news environment justifying the extra time and space to do these types of projects, so I'm grateful it's my reality in Prince George. Mostly I need to thank the three who shared their experiences with multiple concussions. They spoke of suicide, lost identity and how lonely it can be. So thank you to them for their honesty and to the local brain injury group for helping people like them find a new path in life."
Citizen photographer Brent Braaten took silver in the spot news photo award category for his picture entitled Nancy O's fire, while Citizen reporter Frank Peebles took bronze in the Neville Shanks Memorial Award for Historical Writing category for his story City's 100th Anniversary Built on Village's Ashes.
