Five days after her mother was hit and killed by a vehicle while helping another person whose vehicle had gone into a ditch near Pipestone, Alta., Tessa Demskie is holding on tight to anything with a connection to her.
“In all of this tragedy that’s going on, I feel like it’s not real,” Tessa told Global News on Thursday, adding that she slept with her mother Irene’s shoes the night before.
Irene Demskie, 62, died on Saturday night. Wetaskiwin RCMP officers were called to a collision on Highway 616 and Highway 795 at 6:40 p.m.
Police said Demskie, who was from Mulhurst Bay, was hit by a passing vehicle as she was helping someone whose vehicle had gone into the ditch. According to police, the vehicle that hit Demskie stopped and the driver has since been co-operative with the investigation.
READ MORE: Woman, 62, fatally hit while helping vehicle in the ditch near Pigeon Lake
Tessa, who lives in the Westlock area, called her three siblings and then left her home in shock.
Tessa said her mother had been out icefishing with her husband Don and his granddaughter on Saturday. On the way home, the vehicle Don’s granddaughter was driving went into the ditch so Irene and Don stopped to help pull her out.
Tessa said once they got the vehicle out and were getting ready to leave, “Don and my mom both looked back because they could hear a car coming.”
“[Don] said, ‘We didn’t know what to do — it was coming right at the back of our vehicle,’ and he said… ‘I could see your mom looking at it, and I’m looking at it… [it] was coming right at us,'” she said.
According to Tessa, Don told her the vehicle veered into the ditch at the last second, but pulled in exactly where Irene had jumped in an effort to get out of the way.
She said Don and the driver of the vehicle that hit Irene jumped in to perform CPR right away.
“I said, ‘Is my mom dead? Is my mom dead right now? And he said, ‘It doesn’t look good. Get to the hospital.'”
Tessa said she still has not been able to process what has happened.
“In all of this tragedy that’s going on, I feel like it’s not real,” Tessa said.
“I want to pick up the phone and go, ‘Mom, do you realize what’s going on right now?'”
Tessa said her mother was retired and had been with Don for several years. She loved to fish and cook and doted on her 10 grandchildren. She said her mother was also in constant communication with her and they even spoke on the day she died.
“On a daily basis, through text and through phone, I probably talk to my mom verbally five times a day,” Tessa said.
RCMP continue to investigate the deadly collision and so far no charges have been laid.
After the crash, Tessa headed out to the scene where her mother died to place flowers there and try to take in what had happened. On that visit is also where she found her mother’s shoes.
“I feel like that’s the last place she was alive, and I was hoping maybe some of her spirit is still there,” Tessa said.
–With files from Global News’ Sarah Ryan
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