A Calgary woman and her nine-year-old little brother are mourning the death of their father after he was killed in a crash in southeast Calgary on Monday night.
“He really did everything he could for myself and my little brother and his family,” 30-year-old Ashley Ross said on Sunday. “He was just a really happy guy all the time.
“He always joked about stuff and just wanted to make people laugh.”
The grief from losing her father is overwhelming for Ashley.
Kelly Ross, 51, was killed on Sept. 23 when the motorcycle he was driving was struck by an SUV at the intersection of Peigan Trail at 36 Street S.E.
READ MORE: Alcohol being investigated as factor in deadly motorcycle crash: Calgary police
Watch below: (from Sept. 24, 2019) Calgary police are investigating alcohol as a potential factor in a hit-and-run motorcycle crash on Monday evening. Doug Vaessen has details.
Ashley said she can’t imagine how difficult it must be for her dad’s partner who witnessed the crash.
She was supporting him at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that night.
Police have said they are investigating whether the driver of the SUV had been drinking before the crash.
“She was following behind him,” Ashley recalled. “She was right there. They were leaving the AA meeting and she offered to pick him up and they would go together in the van.
“But my dad said, ‘No, it’s one of the last nice days — I want to go for a bike ride.'”
Ashley said her father had struggled with alcohol for years when she was growing up but he quit when her little brother was born nine years ago.
“It meant the world to me because my childhood had passed, but I just really wanted him to be a better man for my little brother, because every kid deserves to have their dad,” she said. “And now that was taken from us.”
Police said the driver of the SUV that was involved in the hit-and-run collision left the scene but was apprehended a short time later. They have said that alcohol is considered to be a factor in the crash and that charges are pending against the driver of the SUV.
Ashley is now left to comfort her younger brother while at the same time dealing with her own pain and anger.
Calgary police had no further update on the investigation on Sunday.
“With all of the knowledge we have out there about drinking and driving, I can’t believe that people still think they can get in their car,” she said. “Maybe this can be a lesson to other people who think it’s OK to get into their car while they’re drinking, because that’s not OK.”
A GoFundMe account has been set up by friends to help deal with funeral costs.
Members of a Calgary motorcycle group, @Riders_YYC, held a ghost bike memorial last Sunday for a man killed in a motorcycle crash.
They gathered to unveil a stripped-down motorbike that had been spraypainted white in honour of their late friend.
A ghost bike memorial is now being planned at the crash site on Peigan Trail for Sept, 30 at 7 p.m. to remember Kelly Ross.
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