A Calgary woman who suffered severe injuries in a fatal pedestrian collision says she’s staying strong for her injured daughter.
Aliyah Ramirez-Bernard, 21, and her one-year-old daughter Ember were seriously injured after being struck by an SUV at Macleod Trail near Glenmore Trail S.W. on Feb. 18.
Ramirez-Bernard’s boyfriend, 21-year-old Blade Crow, died in the collision.
“I just want to take all her pain away and take it for myself,” said Ramirez-Bernard from her hospital bed on Saturday night.
“I just feel like I’ve cried so much to the point where I just can’t cry anymore.”
Her days consist of visiting Ember at the Alberta Children’s Hospital while she recovers at the Foothills Medical Centre.
Ramirez-Bernard suffered two broken legs, a cracked pelvis and broken ribs. Ember has a head injury. She said she doesn’t remember much about the night of the crash.
“I just remember waiting at the light to cross, and then I turned around and I saw headlights. Then it just went black,” Ramirez-Bernard said.
The next day, she was told that Crow had died.
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“Blade took really good care of us. He did whatever he could to get us to Calgary. We moved there in December, and he found us a place and got us furniture. Whatever we needed or wanted, he just did it,” Ramirez-Bernard said.
“I just miss him a lot.”
In December 2019, Ramirez-Bernard was driving home to Vancouver with her sister when they were involved in a crash near Jasper. Ramirez-Bernard was injured and her 16-year-old sister Rainbow Skye Bernard died.
“It changed my whole life. My whole life revolved around her. We did everything together. We had such a good trip in Alberta, and then on our way back, we got into that accident and she passed away,” Ramirez-Bernard said.
Nine months before that crash, the sisters lost their mother.
It’s the memory of her mom that’s helping Ramirez-Bernard get through this unimaginable time.
“I think about my mom and how strong she was and everything she went through and how she just kept herself together all the time. I feel like now is my turn to do that,” Ramirez-Bernard said.
Police said charges are pending against the 28-year-old driver involved in the crash. It’s also believed speed and drug use may have been factors in the collision.
“My daughter is only 13 months old. She didn’t deserve this. I just wish people would be smarter and think twice before they do something because it’s not just your life you’re putting in danger — it’s everybody’s,” Ramirez-Bernard said.
A fundraiser has been set up for the young mother and daughter. They are both facing surgeries in the coming weeks. Ramirez-Bernard is holding out hope for Ember’s full recovery.
“It’s even a miracle that she is alert and aware of everything because usually, babies who endure this type of trauma don’t come out of it. In my heart, I feel she will make a full recovery,” Ramirez-Bernard said.
She plans to write about her experiences to get through this time and to help others heal.
“If people feel alone or they feel like they can’t get through it, at least they know there’s somebody there that has been through worse or knows how they feel and have gone through it,” Ramirez-Bernard said.
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