Only 12 days after Humboldt Broncos player Conner Lukan’s funeral, his grandmother passed away from what their family describes as “a broken heart.”
Conner’s mother, Robin, who lived next door to her mother-in-law, went to her house after her family hadn't heard from her. Robin found her on the floor in the living room and spent 25 minutes doing CPR, but she didn't survive.
Conner's grandmother had lost her own son and Conner's uncle, Jamie, 22 years before in a crash on the way to a hockey game.
“She couldn't live in pain again after losing her own son 22 years ago, and now her grandson. She died that day of a broken heart,” Robin Lukan said Monday.
“We were reliving the grief that we had already lived through, that was barely healed with a band-aid just over the surface.”
Lukan’s mother, Robin, was one of the family members in court Monday who chose to read her statement aloud on the impact the Humboldt Broncos bus crash has had on her, detailing the last time she was able to hold her “handsome, beautiful boy who prided himself on his appearance,” just days before the crash happened.
Her statement is one of dozens being read out in court this week for the sentencing of Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, whose semi-truck crashed into the Broncos team bus last April.
Lukan grew up in Slave Lake and moved away to stay with billet families at the age of 14 to live his dream of playing hockey. One of those years he spent in St. Albert with the Raiders.
“I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my body,” Robin said.
The family learned they had lost their son at around 11:30 p.m. the night of the accident. When they arrived to see Conner one last time, Conner’s sister hugged his lifeless body and his brother Kolby dropped to his knees at the sight of his brother.
“I remember wanting to pick him up and hold him but feeling like I was too weak, so I just sat on a chair, helpless, with all of my children in the room.”
After the death of her son, the community of Slave Lake celebrated Lukan’s life, with his best friend and brother Kolby carrying his ashes in an urn.
Robin described the pain her family went through after the accident.
She said she doesn’t sleep and there are days where she hasn’t been able to eat.
“I feel like I am going through the motions of life without living,” Robin said.
Conner’s father Lorne made a short statement, as “nothing in the world will ever bring my son back.”
“You get left with a hole in your soul that can never be filled. As hard as you try, it will not happen,” Lorne said.
On April 4, just two days before the fatal crash, Robin had gone to see Conner play a hockey game in Humboldt, where she witnessed her mild-mannered son turn into a "formidable, skilled player" on the ice.
She said before she left, she gave him a kiss and a hug one last time.
"That was the last time I would touch his face, kiss him or hear his voice. Had I known what would happen two days later, I would have never let go of his face."
