தயாளன் வினாசித்தம்பி - Thayalan Vinasithamby

Brampton trucker pleaded for help after tragic crash

Moments after his tractor-trailer crashed into a grocery store in Michigan, Thayalan Vinasithamby pleaded with bystanders for help before he died.

“He was begging people, ‘Come and save me because I have to look after my wife and only child,’ ” Langes Tharmalingam, a close family friend, said after hearing a witness account of the accident.

Vinasithamby died at the scene.

He fled Sri Lanka’s civil war 23 years ago, settling in Canada with a dream of owning his own home where he could raise a family.

The 44-year-old Brampton man died driving a tractor-trailer, a second job he took to support his wife and 9-year-old daughter.

Vinasithamby’s rig plowed into a grocery store in Harper Woods, northeast of Detroit, Saturday evening.

State police said two cars were drag racing on I-94 when one driver lost control and slammed into the front of the tractor-trailer.

The truck veered off the highway, up an embankment where it crashed into the back wall of the store before bursting into flames, police said.

Vinasithamby was delivering empty pop cans from Ohio to Mississauga when the crash happened.

He was one of the safest drivers working at Indo Can Logistics Inc., a Mississauga trucking company, said owner Hardeep Mann.

Friends described Vinasithamby as a kind and hardworking man.

“He was carrying the whole weight for his family, trying to give them a better life,” Mann said.

Every day, Vinasithamby would take his daughter to school, pick her up and drop her off at daycare before going to work at a tool-and-die company in the afternoon, Tharmalingam said.

On weekends, he worked part-time as a truck driver for Indo Can.

“He was a very peaceful person. I never heard him raise his voice,” Mann said.

Vinasithamby took the second job so the couple could pay off their mortgage and car, as well as save money for their daughter’s education.

He wanted his daughter, who had just finished Grade 4, to become a doctor, Tharmalingam said.

After she heard of her husband’s death, Vinasithamby’s wife “totally collapsed,” he said.

Michigan State Police said the 19-year-old driver who smashed into Vinasithamby’s truck was driving with a suspended licence and she could be charged with negligent homicide.

The second driver may also face charges.

Vinasithamby arrived in Canada as a refugee. Once he received his landing papers, he took on three jobs so he could sponsor his family as well as his wife’s family.

It was his perseverance and selfless personality that made him a popular employee at the tool-and-die company where he has worked for the past 12 years, Tharmalingam said. His colleagues raised $7,000 and presented it to the family.

“He’s a model to everyone, not only the Sri Lankan community but to all Canadians.”

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1023915--brampton-trucker-pleaded-for-help-after-tragic-crash