'Our sweet daughter': Funeral held for young Ukrainian girl killed in Montreal hit-and-run

A funeral was held at a Ukrainian church in Montreal on Wednesday morning for seven-year-old Mariia Legenkovska, who was struck and killed by a vehicle in a hit-and-run on Dec. 13.

Her white coffin, in the aisle at the front of Saint-Sophie Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, was surrounded by bouquets, cards and stuffed animals.

The nearly two-hour, emotional service was marked by prayer, tributes and poignant words from her father, a Ukrainian soldier who left the battlefield in his home country and made it just in time to Montreal to lay his daughter to rest.

His remarks were translated from Ukrainian to English by Saint-Sophie priest Volodymyr Kouchnir.

Andreii Legenkovska spoke about the little girl he'd lost. "She was known for her beautiful smile,'' he said and "was loved…our sweet daughter."

Parents Galyna (left) and Andrii Legenkovska (right) and siblings look on as her casket is taken from the church following her funeral in Montreal, Wednesday, December 21, 2022. Mariia Legenkovska, whose family moved to Montreal this year to flee the Russian invasion, was killed while walking to school with her brother and sister on Dec. 13 by a driver who didn't stop to assist her. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

FAMILY FLED WAR IN UKRAINE 

In the most tragic of circumstances, Mariia's death reunited a young family, separated by war.

Just months before the fatal collision, she and her brother and sister had moved to Montreal with their mother, Galyna, while their father, Andreii, remained in Ukraine, serving in Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces.

Ukrainian officials in that country scrambled to get the paperwork in place to allow him to leave the country and attend his daughter's funeral.

He plans to stay in Montreal with his family for a few months and then will return to Ukraine to defend their home city of Okhtyrka, in the northeast of the country.

Outside the church, Michael Shwec, head of the Quebec chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, said even with so many members of the Ukrainian community surrounding the family, offering solace and companionship, nothing replaces family.

"And her husband is very strong, he's a super person also, he's able to have that grounding effect for the mother and the children," Shwec said.

"It's difficult. They lost their daughter, they know that. They came here to seek refuge and they recognize it as a horrible accident. The family is planning on staying in Montreal making their life in Montreal, it's just a very tough start for that beginning."

The family sat squeezed together in a pew, with both Galyna and her daughter's heads draped in white scarves.

They wiped away tears, their faces drawn as people came forward to pay their respects to Mariia beside the open casket and to show their support to the family with hugs and kind words.

Andreii and Galyna Legenkovska stand together by their daughter Mariia's casket as people pay their respects to the family. Mariia, 7, was killed in a hit-and-run in Montreal, on Dec. 13.

STRANGERS PAY THEIR RESPECTS TO YOUNG GIRL

Friends of the family attended the service, but so did strangers, some of whom said as they entered the church that they felt compelled to be there to support the family.

Mariia’s death led to an outpouring of grief and anger in the local community. Many considered the intersection located in a school zone where the girl was killed to be a safety risk.

"I was here yesterday and I'm here today to give love to the family…love is the reason for living," said one woman who cried as she spoke outside the church.

A pastor from a nearby Ukrainian Catholic church who joined the mourners remarked that a tragedy like this one transcends religious identity.

"There are no Catholics or Orthodox, or Muslims or Jewish (here). We are all humans and the pain the family feels, we feel it as well," said Father Ihor Oshchipko.

With files from CTV's Matt Gilmour