As seen on Castanet Kelowna by Alanna Kelly, 21st November 2018.
It has been one year since Hideki Mimura last visited Kelowna. This is the second time he has travelled from Japan to give an emotional, but important message to the residents of British Columbia.
Mimura lost his 21-year-old daughter in April 2017 when she was driving back to UBC Okanagan from visiting a friend in Vancouver.
“We are still suffering, we cry many times a day and I think it is going to be like this until the end of our life,” he said. “It is just too hard.”
Melissa Mimura had her first and last traffic collision on Highway 5 just before Merritt.
“We don’t want to waste our painful experience, I want to show myself to the people of British Columbia and I don’t want any of them to be like us that is why I came back,” he said. “That is the only thing we can do … it is too late for us.”
A crowd of people gathered under a white tent at Orchard Park Mall parking lot to remember road crash victims in Kelowna.
Paramedics, firefighters and family members spoke about how collisions have impacted their lives.
Fire and Life Safety Educator at the Kelowna Fire Department Rick Euper said he was a victim of two drunk driver collisions.
“It ruined both vehicles, I was injured and spent a lot of time in rehab,” said Euper. “It is just too many… one crash too many.”
In 2016, Kelowna RCMP investigated 453 collisions 31 of which had serious injuries or resulted in a fatality. In 2017, 344 collisions of which 28 were serious injuries or fatalities.
“As you can see the overall number of collisions have come down in a slight decrease… this is a direct result of intelligent and enforcement techniques by our members,” said Sgt. Mark Booth.
Booth said he’s witnessed horrific carnage as a direct result of motor vehicle collisions and had to break devastating news to family members that their loved ones had been injured or lost their lives.
Mimura said since his daughter’s death he wants the speed reduced on the Coquihalla Highway when weather is bad or have the highway closed. He believes this will reduce the number of accidents.
“This is the only thing I can do for Melissa now. She is gone,” he said through tears.
The national day of remembrance was established by local lawyer Paul Hergott and his wife, Terri, after a friend was killed in a “needless” crash in 2010.
Mimura said he plans to visit all of the places Melissa loved to go to, while he is in town and will be back next year on the same day to remember her.
‘In Their Name’ is the campaign of ‘The BC Wrongful Death Law Reform Society’ – a BC registered non-profit organization comprised of volunteer families who have lost a loved one to wrongful death in BC and were denied access to justice. In response to the biggest human rights issue facing the province today, our goal is to modernize British Columbia’s antiquated wrongful death legislation, which predates confederation (1846). Under current legislation, the value of a human life is measured only by the deceased’s future lost income, so long as they had dependents.