'A time to celebrate her, a time for closure'
Steve Bruce | CBC News | Posted: July 14, 2017 11:00 PM | Last Updated: July 14, 2017
Elizabeth Sovis honoured at memorial service five years after her death
Five years after she was struck and killed while cycling on P.E.I., the family and friends of Elizabeth Sovis returned to the Island Friday to honour her memory.
Memorial service
Dozens of people packed into a memorial service at Central Queen's United Church, just a few kilometres from where a drunk driver hit Sovis along the unpaved shoulder of Route 13 in the summer of 2012.
"She died on a Saturday, and we held her funeral the following Saturday. We were all in shock," said Edmund Aunger, Sovis' husband, who had been cycling with her at the time. "But we've had time to heal. This is a time to celebrate, a time for closure."
Make cycling safer
In the five years since his wife's death, Aunger has been biking the Trans-Canada Trail from British Columbia to P.E.I., highlighting what he calls serious safety issues along the trail, and pushing for changes to make cycling in Canada safer.
Aunger's journey ended Friday when he, along with his friends and family, biked from the church and up Route 13 to the spot where his wife was hit.
Aunger strapped the same bike he was riding five years ago to a post, both to remember his wife, and to remind others how dangerous cycling can be without safer roads.
"This is a painful thing to be reminded of. But this is a statement that safe cycling infrastructure is necessary," he said.