Wife of motorcyclist killed in Highway 9 crash speaks out against impaired driving
CBC
Mica Orcullo-Supena set up about a dozen chairs in the living room of her North Kildonan home on Friday afternoon, arranging them in rows to face a makeshift altar with framed pictures of her husband and some of his favourite foods.
The 28-year-old has held a prayer vigil at her home each night since last Saturday when her husband, 30-year-old Winston Supena, was killed in a crash as he rode his motorcycle just north of Winnipeg.
The nine days of prayers are part of a Filipino cultural practice intended to help a person's soul immediately after their death, she said.
The crash happened on Highway 9 and Mitchell Bay, in the rural municipality of St. Andrews, around 4 p.m. last Saturday, RCMP previously said. Supena's motorcycle collided with a three-ton truck as the truck was trying to turn westward down Mitchell Bay, police said.
Mica says police told her that the 67-year-old man who drove the truck admitted to officers that he'd reversed the truck in front of Supena's motorcycle as he made the turn down Mitchell Bay, before Supena crashed into his vehicle.
Supena was pronounced dead at the crash site, RCMP said.
Hours before the fatal crash, Mica says she'd had brunch with her husband and their four-year-old daughter in Winnipeg, after he finished an early shift at his job as a health-care aide with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.
Supena left the restaurant early to meet up with his motorcycle buddies while his daughter finished eating, she says.
"And that was the last time we saw him."
Police said on Monday the truck driver's licence was suspended under The Highway Traffic Act. They believe alcohol was a factor in this collision, but no charges have been laid.
RCMP say their investigation into the crash is ongoing.
"We're devastated. We lost the one we love, for what? A bottle of alcohol?" Mica said. "That decision changed not only his [life], but all of our lives."
Mica, who works as a massage therapist, said she was in a session with a family member when someone messaged her to call one of her husband's motorcycle buddies, who told her that Supena had been in an accident and was receiving CPR from paramedics.
"I think, at that time, my life shattered," she said.
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