Funeral today for accident victim
A military veteran who died in an alleged hit and run in Sydney will be laid to rest today, as a family member says she’s bothered by questions about how he left the hospital where he was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ida LeLievre says she is troubled by the “cracks in the system’’ that allowed Jackie Deveau to leave Cape Breton Regional Hospital only two days after checking himself in for treatment.
RCMP say a car struck the 54-year-old man on Highway 125 last Saturday and continued on the road near Sydney without stopping.
Investigators are looking for the driver of a grey Volkswagen with damage on its front and passenger side.
LeLievre says Deveau, who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force for about 35 years, was diagnosed with PTSD shortly after assisting in the cleanup of Swissair Flight 111, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Peggy’s Cove in 1998.
She says Deveau recently returned to his hometown of Cheticamp to retire with his wife of more than three decades. She also said Deveau sought psychological care and the family believed him to be under staff supervision at the hospital.
Visitation for Deveau was held on Friday at Cheticamp Funeral Home. The funeral mass will take place today at 2 p.m. at St. Peter’s Church in Cheticamp.