EDMONTON — The cousin of a man killed in a horrific crash near Jasper, Alta. over the weekend is remembering him as someone full of joy and love for everyone around him.
“He was my brother, that’s how I look at him. My brother and one of my best friends,” Jamie Walker said of his cousin Daniel Walker.
Daniel, 28, was among four people killed in a five-vehicle pileup on Highway 16 west of Jasper Friday night.
Daniel and two of the people killed were in the same car at the time of the crash: his girlfriend’s sister, 22-year-old Leeya Coombes and a 21-year-old man from Edmonton. Daniel’s girlfriend was also in the car, but 26-year-old Karah Coombes survived.
The collision happened around 10:45 p.m. Friday. Mounties said a pick-up truck heading east collided with another pick-up and three other vehicles headed in the opposite direction.
Daniel, Karah, Leeya and her boyfriend were all in the westbound truck.
READ MORE: RCMP ID victims of Jasper crash that killed 4, injured 15
Jamie said his cousin Daniel had been dating Karah for about three years. They were on their way to Vancouver to meet her father when the crash happened.
“It’s devastating,” Jamie said Monday night. “His mom was telling me that he was her joy and that’s the best way to describe him. He was the kind of guy who just lit up a room… He was always just giggling at something or making jokes with his friends. Everyone loved Dan.
“You’d be sitting around doing nothing and it was better because he was there.”
Jamie said he was notified of the crash by RCMP around 4:30 a.m. Saturday. The past few days have been like nothing he’s ever experienced.
“It sinks in at times and you realize what’s going on, and other times it just feels like a bad dream that you can’t wake up from,” he said. “All of a sudden it’s all way too real that life is that fragile.”
Jamie said his family is in the process of organizing a memorial for Daniel, but no date has been set. He said a second memorial will likely be held in Ontario, where he’s originally from.
The driver of the other truck, an 18-year-old man from Carvel, Alta., was also killed in the collision. Fifteen others were taken to hospital.
The cause of the collision is still under investigation. A man who was driving through the area at the time said visibility was extremely poor and it was raining heavily.
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