A head-on collision with an allegedly drunk driver killed a man and his teenage daughter, sent his wife to hospital with life-threatening injuries and left their 19-year-old son to pick up the pieces.
Brian Wijeratne still can't bring himself to talk about it, can't find the right words to describe what it was like to be told by police about the accident Sunday morning.
Around 2:45 a.m., a car was driving the wrong way in the eastbound lane of the QEW ramp onto Highway 427 in Toronto. The 19-year-old behind the wheel of the SUV was drunk, police say, when he plowed into the Wijeratne family's minivan.
The crash killed Mr. Wijeratne's dad, Jayantha, 50, and his younger sister, 16-year-old Eleesha.
Antonette Wijeratne, Mr. Wijeratne's 51-year-old mom, is still in Sunnybrook hospital. Police said on Monday she remains in life-threatening condition.
The SUV driver was also taken to hospital. He was still hospitalized Monday, police said. He has not yet been identified because police haven't yet laid charges, although they're expected to on Tuesday.
What hits home now for Mr. Wijeratne is the suspected cause of the crash: Drunk driving.
"That's the central part of this," he said. "My family was a great family. Anyone can probably guess that. A lot of families are just like my family. … Nothing will bring them back."