CALGARY – An Alberta family that has been dealt one blow after another is now dealing with an indescribable tragedy.
46-year-old father Eric Cote was killed last Thursday in a multi-vehicle pileup on the QEII.
He leaves behind a wife and two young daughters, all of whom are battling NF1 – a genetic disease that causes brain and spinal tumors.
Cote was driving with his wife Ghislaine and their youngest daughter from Red Deer to Calgary for a medical appointment when their van was crushed between two semi trucks.
The family says they’re deeply grateful to the strangers who pulled Ghislaine and 8-year-old Marilou from the van.
“Patricia and Marilou, they lost the best dad they could ever have,” says mother Ghislaine.
READ MORE: Help floods in for family
The family had already been struggling financially after Eric was injured in a workplace accident, and unable to return to his job.
Since then, the family hasn’t been able to pay their mortgage and subsequently lost their home.
With the family’s only vehicle ruined in the collision, Ghislaine worries she will not be able to get the girls to their monthly doctor’s appointment.
“How could this happen?” asks Eric’s brother, Michel. “A man and his family suffering through these things, all these years and end up like that?”
A trust fund has been set up for the Cote family at ATB.
Anyone wishing to donate can go to any location, but will have to provide the account number 712-00265716300.
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