Collision kills woman working two jobs to provide for twins By: Chris Kitching Posted: 7:00 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022 Last Modified: 8:29 PM CST Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022 Updates

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This article was published 21/12/2022 (734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Sukhwinder Gill woke up and discovered his wife Sarbjit hadn’t returned home from work, he checked a smartphone location app which showed she wasn’t far away.

He knew something wasn’t right minutes later, when her position — Inkster Boulevard and King Edward Street — hadn’t changed and she didn’t answer his call.

“The bad thing came into my mind, maybe something bad happened to her,” Gill, 47, told the Free Press.

Joined by his sister-in-law and one of his 14-year-old twins, who insisted he not go alone, Gill arrived at the intersection early Dec. 10 to find Winnipeg police and a crash involving an SUV and a pickup truck.

After explaining he was looking for his wife, describing her SUV and, upon request, showing identification, police informed him Sarbjit, 42, didn’t survive the crash.

“They told me this happened to her and she’s not with us anymore,” Gill said Thursday. “My whole life, even the last second of my life, she will be with me.

“My kids, I have to be strong for them. I just pray to God, give me strength.”

Working two jobs to provide for her twin children and save for a new house, Sarbjit was dedicated to educating and caring for young children at a daycare centre in Winnipeg’s core.

Co-workers and families of those enrolled at Children at the Centre are now doing everything they can to support the Gill family. They’re raising funds for her son and daughter’s post-secondary education.

“Sarbjit spent many years helping families educate their children. This is their way of giving back for all that she’s given us,” said Racquel Giesbrecht, director of CATC, which is located at Health Sciences Centre. “She loved these kids and loved these families, and these families loved her.”

The crash happened around 12:30 a.m., when Sarbjit was driving home from a night shift at a Canada Post processing plant on Wellington Avenue, where she had picked up a part-time job for the holiday season.

The other driver, a 21-year-old man, was taken to hospital in stable condition.

Gill said he was told Sarbjit was turning north onto King Edward from eastbound Inkster when her SUV was hit on the passenger side by a westbound truck in a 70-km/h zone.

He is waiting for more information from police, but Gill believes she had the right of way. The traffic lights in the eastbound lanes include a green left-turn arrow.

“It is very hard to accept this,” Gill said through tears. “My kids, they lost their mom. We were so happy, our little family.”

Originally from India’s Punjab state, the family arrived in Canada in 2012, settling in Winnipeg.

Sarbjit started at CATC as a volunteer before becoming a full-time childcare assistant. She wanted to enrol in an RRC Polytech course to become an early childhood educator.

“It is very hard to accept this… My kids, they lost their mom. We were so happy, our little family.”–Sukhwinder Gill

“She was wonderful. She was so caring and so hard-working,” said Gill, who works as a ride-hailing service driver. “She had so many dreams. I don’t know why this happened to us.”

When Sarbjit left the daycare for the final time, she wished her colleagues a good weekend, and told them she would see them the following Monday, before driving to her Canada Post job for a six-hour shift on a Friday night.

“She was like a ray of sunshine. She had the biggest smile every day,” said Giesbrecht. “She was a born leader.”

Sarbjit’s funeral was held Monday.

Children who attend CATC have been informed of her death. Some continue to ask about her. “It’s devastating for them,” said Giesbrecht.

“She was like a ray of sunshine. She had the biggest smile every day… She was a born leader.”–Racquel Giesbrecht

She said parents were directed to a resource to help them talk to their children about death and grief. There are plans to bring in a grief counsellor.

Sarbjit helped hundreds at CATC, with some knowing her for years. She was an “amazing” mother, friend and educator, helping to guide the daycare centre through the COVID-19 pandemic, said Giesbrecht.

CATC board member Nadia El-Gabalawy, whose daughter attended the centre for four years, said Sarbjit was a mentor to her, providing encouragement and advice.

El-Gabalawy set up an online fundraising page to collect funds for registered education savings plans for Sarbjit’s twins. The goal is to help the children to achieve the future their mother was working for.

“She’s one of those people who really made a difference in the world,” said El-Gabalawy. “She was out (the night of the collision) because she was trying to help her family more, which is what she was all about — family and community.”

Winnipeg police continue to investigate the crash. “We do not have any update to provide at this time,” a spokeswoman wrote in an email.

When a Free Press reporter visited the scene Dec. 10, people who live nearby expressed concerns about the intersection of Inkster and King Edward.

A resident, who declined to give his name, said he previously complained to the city and requested a red-light camera, hoping it would deter speeding.

Police said 28 people have died in collisions in Winnipeg this year, including 12 who were on foot or on a bicycle.

Nine people were killed in city collisions in 2021.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching