The family of a woman who died after a tragic fall at the University LRT station Wednesday, is grieving, and trying to come to terms with her death.
29 year old Zaidee Jensen accidentally stepped off the LRT platform and fell about 4 feet onto the tracks. When EMS arrived, she was immediately taken to the University Hospital. Zaidee’s family released a statement Friday afternoon saying she passed away early Friday morning after being removed from life-support.
Zaidee and her husband Mike met when they were just 16 years old, while they were playing on the provincial goal ball team, a sport for the visually impaired. They have been married for 8 years. Mike describes Zaidee as a wonderful woman and a wonderful mother to her two children, Mary who is 5 and Nolan who is 2.
“She helped me grow a lot and she’s just a wonderful, fun, positive person,” Mike says adding, “I’ve had the chance to talk with Mary and try to help her understand that it is only Zaidee’s body that is gone, that her spirit is still there watching us and helping us.”
The family had been in the hospital with Zaidee, and had their chance to say goodbye to her Thursday evening.
“It’s, of course, sad for us that we’re left behind but we’ll certainly continue to talk about her as openly as possible and visit her as much as we can and just do everything we can to let (the children) know how wonderful their mother was.”
Zaidee lost most of her sight when she was 15 and despite people who didn’t believe she could do it, she went on to receive double bachelor degrees from the University of Alberta, in French Language and Literature and Psychology.
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“She wouldn’t let anything stop her,” Mike recalls, “She taught me so much about not being afraid to go to unknown, unfamiliar places.”
He says the support he’s been receiving from family and friends over the past few days has been wonderful.
“If I accepted the all the offers of support there would be no way to keep everyone busy.”
Mike says Zaidee touched so many lives for the better and he will miss her more than anything.
“I don’t believe death is something to be scared of,” he says, “In, really, not a very long time we’ll see her again and it’ll be a very happy day.”
With files from Quinn Ohler.
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