Cape Breton man who lost four relatives in horrifying crash in Quebec speaks out against drunk driving
David Fletcher was looking through pictures of family members Wednesday afternoon.
Four of them were killed in a motor vehicle collision in Quebec by an alleged drunk driver.
"This guy came out of nowhere over the hill doing about 150 right into the back of them, no breaks applied, nothing. Police figured the impact was about 140," says Fletcher.
In that moment, Fletcher says his life changed forever. His father, sister, niece and nephew were all in the vehicle -- all of them killed as a result.
"I was on the floor. I couldn't believe it. I said four of them, really. Four of them at once, gone," added Fletcher.
The driver, 43-year-old Éric Légaré, from Beauport, Quebec was arrested for driving while impaired by alcohol and is facing a dozen charges, including impaired driving causing death.
"I'm in and out of phases. I go to call my sister and I can't, because she's not there," says Fletcher.
According to family, 68 year-old Jim Fletcher, who was in Quebec at the time visiting, was a member of the Highlanders Pipe Band, and was musically gifted.
Forty-four-year-old Shellie Fletcher-Lemieux was the mother of 14-year-old Jackson Fortin, who loved football, and 10-year-old Emma Lemieux, who is seen here playing the piano.
Memories are now all David Fletcher has left.
"It's only the price of two beers to get a cab home or get a friend to come and pick you up. We learned the hard way. Don't drink and drive," says Fletcher
A memorial service will be held in Glace Bay on Thursday to pay tribute to four innocent lives that were taken too soon.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.