The parents of a young woman killed in a boating accident in Toronto, say they will remember their daughter as a “beautiful person inside and out.”
Twenty-four-year-old Megan Wu was killed when a boat she and nine other people were on crashed in the Toronto Harbour in the Tommy Thompson Park area on May 31.
Toronto police said the boat was travelling northeast into the harbour when it collided with a rock island breakwater, causing it to capsize.
Eight people who were still on the boat were rescued from the water.
Police said a search was conducted to find Wu and a 34-year-old man who had been on the boat when it capsized.
According to police, the boat was removed from the water. Wu and the 34-year-old man were both found deceased.
Wu’s father, William Wu, said he had encouraged his daughter to go boating on Tuesday, after she received an invite from a friend she hadn’t seen in a while.
“Go see your friend — go enjoy the day,” William told his daughter.
“I did not suspect something like this would happen.”
Wu’s mother, Michelle Wu, said she and William expected their daughter to be home later that evening, but became “concerned” when they couldn’t reach her that afternoon.
“We were not able to contact her cellphone,” Michelle said. “I don’t know if it was because there was no service on the water or she ran out of juice on her phone.”
Michelle said at around 11:30 p.m., Megan’s friend told her via text that the cell service on the water was bad, but that they were on their way back.
“In the morning, she still wasn’t home,” Michelle said. “I couldn’t get in touch with the friend even on her cellphone, so I contacted Marine Services and asked ‘by chance was there a boating accident?’ And they said ‘Yes there was,’ and just through back-and-forth telephone conversations with detectives, they told us at first that she was missing.”
Michelle said a couple of hours later she and William received confirmation that Megan’s body had been found.
William said his daughter was a “strong swimmer.”
“Unfortunately she was trapped in a capsized vessel and she was unable to escape the wreckage,” he explained.
William said Megan was the “shining star in the family.”
“Megan would walk into a room and the room would light up,” he said. “She would turn heads and everyone just had to have Megan near them. Everyone wanted Megan to be around.”
“We miss Megan dearly,” he continued. “Everyone just wished Megan could be here.”
Michelle said Megan was also a “tremendous athlete,” and was a competitive cheerleader for almost 15 years.
Her parents said Megan was awarded a freshman scholarship for collegiate cheerleading at the University of Southern Alabama — a division 1, NCAA school.
After cheerleading there for two years, Megan then transferred to Western University where she studied Media, Information and Technoculture. She graduated in 2020.
It is not immediately clear what caused the collision.
Police told Global News the investigation is ongoing and said nothing is being ruled out at this time.
According to police, the vessel was a 30-foot pleasure craft motorboat with a cabin.
Police said officers are continuing to conduct interviews to better understand what caused the crash.
Michelle said for now, the “grief is stronger than the anger.”
“I’m sure at some point the anger will take over more,” she said. “But at the moment, it’s not as severe as the grief.”
A GoFundMe has been set up in her name.