'He never did anything halfway': Montreal volunteer fighter dies in Ukraine, mother says
CBC
Marie-France Sirois hadn't heard news about her son for days, until his best friend in the army called.
"I knew it was the end," she said.
Her son, Émile-Antoine Roy-Sirois, 31, died on July 18, according to his friend, Adriel Martinez, an American volunteer in Ukraine. Roy-Sirois left Montreal in March to lend support to Ukrainian troops following Russia's invasion on Feb. 24.
Sirois is hoping to bring her son's body back to Montreal after she spent months pleading with him not to leave.
"He was bright and clever and kind.... People loved him at first sight," she said. "I'll miss everything [about him], all my life."
She said she's been in contact with the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian army is "supposed to take care of everything in order to get Émile's body back" home.
Marilyne Guèvremont, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said the department is aware of the death of a Canadian in Ukraine, but she stopped short at confirming Roy-Sirois's identity.
"Consular officials are in contact with the family and are providing consular assistance," she said in an email to CBC News. "Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed."
Despite the absence of an official statement, Sirois said she has "no doubt he was killed."
Sirois said her son worked as a firefighter in Western Canada and in customer service at a delivery company.
A former student at Université de Montréal and HEC Montréal, Roy-Sirois followed international politics closely, Sirois said.
"He was interested in so many things at the same time," she said. "He never did anything halfway."
"It's like he was not from his time," his aunt, Martine Sirois, said. "He had noble values.... When he was interested [in] something, he knew the subject completely.
"We loved that child so much."
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