Almost a week after the tragic collision that took her sister’s life, Christine Rozon is still trying to cope with the very preventable loss.
“We have to miss out on everything with her for the of our lives because a 23-year-old decided he was invincible and decided to drive drunk,” Rozon said.
Rozon’s sister, 35-year-old Cindy Devine of St. Thomas, was killed in a car crash around 5:30 p.m. on Highbury Avenue in London, Ont., on Friday, Oct. 2.
The other driver involved in the crash, a St. Thomas man, has been charged with impaired operation of a vehicle and for having a blood level over the legal limit.
“We were in shock, my parents took it really hard, and we have been struggling and dealing with the loss ever since,” Rozon said.
“You don’t want to be the reason someone does not come home.”
Cindy Devine was killed in a car crash around 5:30 p.m. on Highbury Avenue in London, Ont, on Oct. 2, 2020.
Supplied by Christine Rozon
Devine had been on her way to work at her parents’ cross-stitch store, and when she never showed up her parents got worried. Rozon said her father went to the scene of the crash looking for Devine, and that’s when he found out what had happened.
Devine leaves behind her husband Richard, children Paige and Dakota, and stepchildren Brook and Aries.
“My sister at 35 is gone — she never gets to watch her kids grow up and get married or [to] have grandchildren,” Rozon said.
Read more:
St. Thomas woman dies after fatal collision: London police
“With all these types of cases, there are family members that are dramatically impacted,” said Andrew Murie, chief executive officer for MADD Canada.
He said licensed drivers aged 16 to 24 are more likely to be in an impaired driving crash than any other age group.
“A lot of them are inexperienced and immature, and once you add impairment into it, their driving ability is dramatically affected.”
“You see, the devastation it caused to this family, and these are crashes that are 100 per cent preventable,” Murie said.
Rozon remembers her sisters as a ‘bright light,’ who was loved by many.
“People just loved being around her, especially the women at my mom’s cross-stitch store, which made me laugh because she had red hair, tattoos, and piercing and yet these old ladies just loved her.”
Cindy Devine was killed in a car crash around 5:30 p.m. on Highbury Avenue in London, Ont, on Oct. 2, 2020.
Supplied by Christine Rozon
She said her sister was a talented artist and musician, saying Devine had just started to get back into playing guitar since the birth of her son when the accident happened.
A private funeral has been arranged for the family on Thursday, but Rozon says they hope they can throw a party to celebrate her life once the coronavirus crisis is over.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help Devine’s husband and children.
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