Canadian victim was aspiring researcher
Andrei Anghel, an aspiring medical researcher from Ajax, Ont., was identified Friday as the lone Canadian killed in the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, shot down over eastern Ukraine Thursday.
The 24 year old was born in Romania and immigrated with his family to Canada when he was eight years old. After completing an honour’s degree in biomedical science at the University of Waterloo, he returned to Romania in 2012 to study medicine at Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy in the northwestern city of Cluj-Napoca.
“I think his heart was set way more toward the research part of medicine,” his older sister Alexandra Anghel said Friday, speaking outside her parents’ home in Ajax.
“He really wanted to change the world. He wanted to find a cure for stuff that people are dying from.”
Mr. Anghel was en route to a vacation in Bali, Indonesia, with his German girlfriend when the plane crashed. He was an inveterate traveller with an ever-bright demeanour, his sister said.
“It didn’t matter what mood I was in or whatever,” she said, her voice breaking.
“He would just crack a joke, normally at my expense, and somehow it would be so funny it would just cure whatever mood I was in.”
Chris Alexander, the federal minister of citizenship and immigration and MP for Mr. Anghel’s hometown, visited his parents. “My wife and I are devastated by the family’s loss,” he said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to Andrei’s parents, his sister, other family members and friends.”
Those who died on MH17 came from 11 countries and all walks of life. They included an acclaimed AIDS researcher from Amsterdam, a nun and teacher from Sydney, a Dutch senator, a World Health Organization spokesman and two soccer fans travelling to see their team play in New Zealand.
The plane was also carrying some of the world’s top HIV researchers heading to an international conference in Australia, resulting in a devastating loss of expertise that could set back the global search for a cure for AIDS.