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Donations being collected for families affected by fatal crash

GoFundMe page set up to help five families from Maskwacis
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Photos: Top (left to right) Anthony Swampy, Dominique Soosay Northwest and Terrelle Minde. Bottom photos: Cheyane Soosay Northwest and Latesha Dawn Soosay Northwest . Facebook photos

A GoFundMe account has been set up for the families of 10 children who lost a parent in a fatal crash near Millet Tuesday.

Three sisters, two of them young mothers, and a man and a woman died in the collision between the car they were in and an SUV on Hwy 2A, about five km south of Millet.

Sisters, Cheyane Soosay Northwest, 22, and Latesha Soosay Northwest, 25, had five children. Anthony Swampy, 30, had three children and his girlfriend Terrelle Minde, 22, had two children, said a cousin of Swampy’s on the GoFundMe page.

Samson Cree Nation Chief Vernon Saddleback said the three sisters were from that band and the others were from Ermineskin Cree Nation, another of the four bands at Maskwacis.

Saddleback said the deaths have been hard on all in the communities, where ties between families are tight.

“We are an extended family community here. Everybody kind of knows everybody, so whenever we lose somebody it’s all tragic, it’s all a loss,” he said on Wednesday.

Some people left messages of condolences on Samson’s Facebook page.

“Smoke and prayers were sent tonight. I am saddened by this tragic loss,” one wrote.

Mel Hy Buffalo, whose worked at Samson Cree Nation, called for a government inquiry into the safety of the highway.

The GoFundMe page under “Millet Accident 6 June” was set up by Wetaskiwin man Daniel Leclercq who says on the page he is not related to any of the victims but wants to raise money to divide between the five families affected.

Samson Cree Nation spokeswoman Delorna Buffalo-Makinaw confirmed they are working with Leclercq.

A number of people left messages on the GoFundMe page.

One group wrote: Heartbreaking….. my prayers to everyone hurting from this tragedy.”

As of late Thursday afternoon, $3,250 had been raised towards the $5,000 goal.



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