Dressed in a red coat and a white shawl, the mother of little Maria, mowed down in Montreal by a driver a week ago, wanted to thank all those who support her in this drama. A mass of solidarity accompanied the young deceased to her final rest on Tuesday evening.
Orthodox icons and the Ukrainian trident towered over a crowd gathered in the Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia, in the Rosemont district. The body of little Maria crossed the nave in a white coffin under funeral songs.
A few minutes before the start of her daughter’s funeral, Galyna Legenkovska appeared in front of the media to thank those who support her little family.
“I agreed to do this press conference because I was very surprised and deeply touched by the reaction of the Quebec community to the tragedy in my family. My heart is torn by this immense loss. It is impossible to describe my condition just with words. But today, I feel the incredible warmth that comes from Canadians’ words of support. It’s a lot of people. Not hundreds, but thousands,” she read in French.
More than $150,000 has been raised over the past few days to help his family, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.
“There is not much more that can be done”, thanked Galyna Legenkovska. “We suffer, but we begin to understand that we can no longer change anything and that life goes on. Her 7-year-old daughter was a “joyful kid,” she noted. “In the last photo I have of her, we see her smiling and saying, ‘I love Montreal. I am here now !” She should be buried on Quebec soil.
The mother and her three children, originally from the Poltava region and arriving from Ukraine in July, have since managed to find housing and settle in Montreal. The father, a Ukrainian territorial defense fighter, arrived in the country a few days ago to attend his daughter’s funeral. He should stay a few months here before returning to the front. The rest of the family plans to stay here in the country.
“The father did not believe it at first,” said Maria Makivchuk, coordinator of the Ukrainian congress.
She also wanted to thank the society that welcomes her compatriots with open arms. “Federal, provincial, municipal, everyone helps. People open their doors, call to ask how they can help,” she says.
A ceremony full of emotions
Priest Volodymyr Kushnir honored the memory of little Maria. “We must not let ourselves be won over by evil and wickedness,” he preached in an interview with the Homework before mass. “We must keep the good, the truth for which we fight. »
The grieving mother also echoed her words. “I understand it was not an intentional crime. I know he has a family and I think he is in too much pain, ”she said through a translator.
A colorful crowd had gathered to attend the funeral ceremony. Ukrainians, but also Montrealers of all origins, came to pay homage to little Maria despite the Ukrainian language mainly used during mass.
In the crowd, Olena Verbetska, the immigration officer of the small family, offered all her condolences and hugs to the grieving mother. “I remember those children very well… Little Maria looked so much like her mother, Galyna,” she breathes, her voice choking with emotion.
Words failed the mourners. Simon Kouklewsky, a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox community in Montreal, struggled to explain the feeling haunting Ukrainians right now. “I sing in the choir and I can usually dissociate myself from the meaning when the lyrics are in English. Yesterday I sang a song in Ukrainian for the first time. I had to stop because of the sad words, their depth, but also the context. »
“It’s absurd, like this war,” summed up Maria Makivchuk.