Family mourns loss of father of two killed in work accident
Only weeks before Christmas, tragedy has struck a Calgary family.
A father of two, Lalit Sethi, 44, was killed last Monday in a workplace accident at a Bison Transport truck yard just outside city limits as he was preparing for a long-haul drive across the country — only a week after his mother suffered a heart attack.
Amandeep Sethi, a close family friend, said the incident happened when Lalit’s co-driver was preparing to attach a trailer to a truck.
“The co-driver, not realizing (Lalit) was standing behind the truck ... backed up the truck trying to hook up the truck to the trailer,” he said. “He got crushed between the truck and trailer.”
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $50,000 for Lalit’s family, which is now without the only breadwinning member of the family.
The family had already been grieving the death of Lalit’s father, who died in August after a battle with cancer, and were dealing with the heart attack his mother suffered late last month.
“We went to India twice in the last two years because his father was suffering with cancer and was in the last stage,” said Suvidha Sethi, Lalit’s wife.
“In August, he passed away. We got his mother over here on a tourist visa because she was all alone. (In) November, she got a heart attack and was released from the hospital after one week.
“She got a stent done and as she was recovering, (Lalit’s death) happened.”
Suvidha called her late husband a motivated man, having brought the family to Canada from India nearly five years ago.
“In January 2014, we came over here and got our permanent residency,” Suvidha said.
“He was a very, very lively person. We were having so many plans in his mind all the time. ‘ We’ll plan this, we’ll build this house, we’ll do that.’ He kept motivating other people to come, stay in Canada. He was a fighter for everybody.
“I hope I can get the support so I can raise my kids — I don’t know how I will manage.”
Bison Transport chief operating officer Trevor Fridfinnson confirmed Lalit’s death at their Rocky View County location.
Fridfinnson said the firm has been co-operative with an occupational health and safety investigation and that they have offered support to the family and others following the incident.
An Alberta Labour spokesperson said the investigation falls under federal jurisdiction.
The GoFundMe campaign is titled Help — Lalit Sethi’s Family.