Sole survivor of Sea to Sky Highway crash on how faith, community are helping her unimaginable grief
CTV
Iris Paguia-Portillo was in the front passenger seat, and her brother James and two-year-old daughter Natalia in the back seat on their late night drive home from a church gathering on Nov. 26. Just 20 minutes from their Whistler home, she heard her husband Josefat Portillo scream as their car hit black ice and struck a tree.
Iris Paguia-Portillo was in the front passenger seat, and her brother James and two-year-old daughter Natalia in the back seat on their late night drive home from a church gathering on Nov. 26.
Just 20 minutes from their Whistler home, she heard her husband Josefat Portillo scream as their car hit black ice and struck a tree.
“One thing I will never forget, other than my husband screaming and the headlights and us turning, was when the room was dark and the doctor was telling me that they passed, and that I was the only survivor,” said Paguia-Portillo, who has a fractured cheekbone and bruising on one side.
The grief of losing her husband, daughter and brother is compounded by survivors guilt.
“I don’t understand. How come they received so much damage, but I barely got any, because we were all wearing our seatbelts,” Paguia-Portillo said.
The 23-year-old is now planning three funerals.
“A few days ago, I had to choose their burial site, and that was so difficult,” said Paguia-Portillo. “It’s going to hit everyone like a brick when we see them in their caskets.”
