The friends of a man who was fatally struck in a hit-and-run collision early Saturday morning are raising funds in hopes of sending his body back to his native Zimbabwe for a funeral.
Munyaradzi Sithole died at Sunnybrook Hospital on Saturday after a minivan struck him in the St. Clair Avenue West and Symes Road area at approximately 5 a.m.
Toronto Police Services say the driver took off after the collision. The suspect's vehicle has since been located and police say the driver is expected to turn themselves in on Tuesday.
Sithole had just celebrated his 31st birthday last Friday.
"He was a really, really happy guy," one of Sithole’s closest friends, Gershom Muhlandhla, told CTV Toronto. "He was in such a good mood because of his birthday."
Sithole recently earned a master’s degree from the University of Waterloo and was planning to start his own business. Friends say he was helping to support his parents and siblings back home in Zimbabwe. He had moved to Canada approximately a decade ago.
His friends say they recently delivered the tragic news to his family.
"In the part of the world where we come from, you don’t just hit somebody and run. If you hurt somebody, you can’t walk away from the situation. There’s no way you can walk away from the situation," Muhlandla said.
An online fundraising site was created on Sunday to help cover the cost of sending Sithole’s body back to Zimbabwe. More than $7,100 has been raised so far. The goal is to raise between $25,000 and $30,000.
"(Sithole's) family is in Zimbabwe and have no means to come to Canada," the fundraising site explains. "We are appealing for your financial help to assist in repatriating his body so that his family can have a chance to say their final goodbye."
A memorial for Sithole is being planned in Kitchener and Toronto.
