A Cambridge family is grieving the loss of a three-year-old girl who was hit and killed in a collision on Dec. 11.
“She was our angel, she was our everything,” her mother, Shihan Shea, said Monday. “My heart hurts more than I can bear.”
At the request of her family, as well as Indigenous cultural practices, CTV News Kitchener is not identifying the girl.
“For the next year we won’t say her name because we want her to continue her journey with the creator,” explained Serena Welesy from The Healing of the Seven Generations, an Indigenous-led organization serving the Region of Waterloo and surrounding areas. “We want her to be able to move on and be in peace.”
Shea and her daughter were hit by a vehicle as the pair were walking on Cedar Street, near the Westgate Centre plaza. At the time, the three-year-old was seated in a stroller. She was rushed to hospital where she died from her injuries.
The driver of the car, 75-year-old man from Cambridge, was not hurt.
CTV News reached out to the Waterloo Regional Police Service on Monday for an update.
“The investigation is ongoing by members of our Traffic Services Unit and there are no new details to provide,” they said in an email, adding no charges have been laid at this time.
Meantime, on Monday morning, a sacred fire ceremony was held outside the Ga’nigǫhi:yo Indigenous Child Care and Family Centre in Cambridge.
“We usually start a sacred fire and we have it going for about four days,” Wesley explained. “This is to help that spirit pass on.”
“Community has been very supportive and everything that has gone on since the day of,” said Shea.
Even though the circumstances leading up to the crash have not been revealed, the girl’s family is pushing for healing.
“This is about preventing another family from standing where we are today and having to go through this horrific pain,” said Spencer MacDonald, the girl’s father. “We’re speaking today not out of rage, but of love for our child and concern for public safety.”
Shea, MacDonald and Indigenous leaders are calling for tougher road safety laws.
“We’re hoping to have a law enacted that will require an automatic temporary licence suspension for any driver involved in a collision that results in death, until a full investigation is completed,” MacDonald explained, insisting, “This is not a finding of guilt. This is a safety measure.”
For her parents, the loss of their daughter is indescribable.
“Your smile lit up our world, and you’ll be deeply missed. I remember your laughter, your curiosity, your sassy side. Rest peacefully my little unicorn, my princess,” Shea said. “I love you always and forever, my sweet baby girl.”
A public memorial service will be held on Tuesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Westmount Memorial Celebration Centre in Kitchener.
