TORONTO -- Four days after Louise Whiten was struck and killed by a suspected impaired driver, her family gathered at her roadside memorial in Oakville, Ont.
"In one instant, our lives have been altered forever," Ching Mac told CTV News Toronto.
Speaking a few metres away from the flowers and debris, Mac recalled the moment he realized his wife of 21 years was gone. Mac says Whiten left to walk their dog Zack after lunch Thursday, but after an hour-and-a-half, she had not returned.
"So I went looking for her. And I started using my Find my iPhone app to find her. And that's when I was stopped right there by the police, and that's how I found out."
At 2:15 p.m. Dec. 3, Whiten and her dog were struck by a suspected impaired driver who had left the roadway. Both died at the scene, near Lakeshore Road East and Burgundy Drive, just blocks from their home.
"There's just absolutely no words, there's no why, there's just nothing," said brother-in-law Mark Cashin. "We basically thought we were untouched by 2020 and COVID, and everything that went along with 2020. And then this, just, you get sideswiped by an event like this, that is just unspeakable."
Mac says their two sons, aged 16 and 17 are devastated. The family had just moved to Oakville a month earlier after looking for their "forever home" for five years. Whiten had already begun decorating for the season.
"She's a lovely homemaker. She was looking forward to our first Christmas here. You know, having just the perfect Christmas."
While her family mourns, so too does the community. At ErinoakKids Centre for Treatment and Development the flags are at half-mast, as colleagues remember the long-standing speech therapist.
"She had a keen, inquisitive mind, a heart filled with compassion and the courage to advocate for the needs of children for whom words did not come easily," said Jan Pepper, Manager of Clinical Operations.
Whiten, who worked with children from birth to pre-school, found her niche over the decades working with children with autism.
"We're getting messages that when they first met Louise, their child could not speak. And now they're having trouble because their child is speaking so much," Cashin said. "These are some of the great life journeys that Louise participated in."
While the family can reflect on these messages with warmth and pride, there is still so much loss they're trying to process.
"Everything. It's her, it's just her. Her laugh, her smile, the love—the love of our children, the love of our life, for each other," said Mac, who met his wife at Queen's University 26 years ago.
The family has now set up a GoFundMe page, to help raise money for Whiten's sons' post-secondary education, and to create a scholarship to "commemorate and continue to foster her devotion to helping children."
A suspect identified as 58-year-old Kevin Hyde of Oakville was charged with impaired operation causing death, and dangerous driving causing death in connection with the incident.
The charges have not been proven in court.
