'Emotionally killed': Family of child cyclist fatally struck by vehicle seek answers, solutions

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 5, 2021
Jeremy Grimaldi

What are parents who lost their daughter to a needless collision with a vehicle to do?

Along with insurmountable heartache, they also have plenty of community support, but is that enough to make it through?

What about the question that lingers in their minds -- what family will be next to suffer the same devastation they've been put through since their 'bubbly' daughter who always stuck up for the disadvantaged died after she was hit by an SUV while riding her bike on a sidewalk outside North Thornhill Community Centre on Sept. 1?

On Nov. 4, her father Michael, mother Natalia and sister Maria, faced the media with their lawyer to address the lawsuit the family has launched and their wish that the situation on the area's busy and dangerous roads improves.

"This was completely avoidable," lawyer Mike Smitiuch said. "(Nikita's) life mattered and she did not die in vain. We are here with hope that what happened to Nikita doesn't happen again. It shouldn't be a matter of life and death if you are riding your bike near a community centre and a school."

Unfortunately for the family, it was. Nikita, who had just finished swimming with a friend, was struck by the vehicle while riding home on her bike and dragged well into Pleasant Ridge Avenue. She died the following day after being taken to hospital.

Thanh Loan Nguyen, 33, of Mississauga, is charged with careless driving causing death, which is a charge under the Highway Traffic Act and not a criminal charge. That means although there can be a custodial sentence, Smitiuch said, it's often the case that fines or other penalties can be handed out as punishment if a person is found guilty.

The family also launched a lawsuit to the tune of $2.25 million against the City of Vaughan, Nguyen and others, alleging the city could have done more to protect Nikita.

A City of Vaughan spokeswoman said because the matter is under litigation she won't be able to comment other than to express grief.

“The incident on Pleasant Ridge Avenue in Vaughan was heartbreaking," she added.

The family, who bemoaned Nikita's passing and the fact that four young people died after being struck by vehicles in York Region, three in Vaughan alone, this summer, begged drivers to slow down and pay attention to their surroundings.

"I want everybody, pedestrians and drivers, to pay attention," Michael said to the media and community members who gathered near the memorial site. "Please, be careful. If you are driving, you have a weapon. You can destroy someone's life and future."

Michael described Nikita as a special kind of child, who had a deep emotional intelligence.

"She came to me one day and said she feels like an 'Astronaut in the Ocean' sometimes," he said, explaining further that it made her confused when she made friends who only care about her clothes and the way she looks. "Two awful words: forever and never. She's gone forever and I will never be able to embrace her, look into her eyes or hear her laugh again."

Natalia also spoke about the pain of facing holidays such as Halloween, one of Nikita's favourites, and Christmas, without her little girl.

"Just to go through Halloween and see the kids, it was so hard," she said with tears rolling down her cheek. "I can't imagine them without her. I just want to run and hide."

She further explained the kind of child the world lost when Nikita died.

"She would come home and ask, 'Mom, why are you sad?'" she said. "'Did I do something wrong?' She had a big heart and an amazing soul."

Nguyen is expected to appear in Newmarket Courthouse on Feb. 3, 2022.