Classmates mourn Ontario crash victims

Dozens of classmates of a 14-yearold boy killed in a deadly Ontario crash joined together Friday to mourn the loss of the teen and his father.

Fatos Metko, 45, and his son Fioralb Metko, 14, died in a crash last Sunday night when their vehicle collided with a moose near Wawa, Ont., crossed the centre line and struck an SUV.

Fatos’s wife, Maralba, and nineyear-old daughter Brianna remain in hospital.

“Our families were really close and this news is devastating to us,” said Hannah Carly, who helped organize the vigil outside Samuel W. Shaw school, and knew the Metko family since she was young.

“(The vigil) was many people’s ideas, not just mine. We knew we had to come together as a group to honour him — a lot of people here were his good friends.”

Maralba’s friend and Hannah’s mother, Carly Beharry, attended the vigil where she called the Metkos close family friends. “Fioralb and Hannah are childhood friends, so they would spend a lot of time at my house since they were three years old,” she said.

“We are heartbroken. These kids are wonderful.”

A corner of the school where the

He made every class joyful. We are heartbroken.

vigil was held was covered with flowers and candles along with a large handwritten letter.

Beharry said it was the same corner where Fioralb, who was set to start high school in the fall, would wait after school with his friends every day for his ride.

“He attended Samuel W. Shaw for many years and was known by all of us as a funny, caring and outgoing person,” the letter reads.

“He made every class joyful. We are heartbroken and we will miss you Fioralb. Rest in peace.”

Ilir Kuqi, president of the Albanian-Canadian Association of Calgary, told Postmedia Thursday that Maralba Metko is in critical condition and remains in a coma while her daughter Brianna is “probably going to be all right,” at least physically.

The family was visiting Ontario ahead of a planned move out east in coming weeks to be closer to family in Michigan, Kuqi said. But those plans were derailed when their vehicle was struck by an oncoming SUV on Sunday.

Two other people from Winnipeg were also killed in the accident.

A GoFundMe page, titled Fundraiser for Metko Family, was launched by friends to assist with funeral costs and to gather money for Brianna’s education.

Created on Tuesday, the page had earned nearly $27,000 by Friday night.

ZACH LAING Friends gather at a vigil for 45-year-old Fatos Metko and his 14-year-old son Fioralb Metko on Friday. They were killed in an Ontario crash last Sunday night, while the man’s wife and daughter were injured.