Family remembers veteran killed in crash near Morley

Family members of a Caroline, Alta., woman struck and killed by an impaired driver last week are remembering her loving smile, selfless attitude and incredible military career.

Around 7:35 p.m. on Aug. 19, Samantha Wylie, 53, was travelling home to Caroline from Canmore, Alta., on her motorcycle near Highway 1A and Morley Road when an oncoming SUV crossed the centre line and collided with her head-on.

“She was my best friend,” said Wylie’s daughter, Haley Perrault, who is currently eight months pregnant.

“She’d give the shirt off her back for anybody really, and she was so looking forward to being a granny. We talked about it every single day. She’d wake and ask me how baby making was going. She loved that I was pregnant and was going to give her a first grandchild.”

Samantha Wylie was a 32-year military veteran with the Canadian Armed Forces who retired as a master warrant officer in 2019.Wylie was a 32-year military veteran with the Canadian Armed Forces who retired as a master warrant officer in 2019. She travelled to multiple places around the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Cyprus, Egypt, Turkey and Israel.

She also worked with several community members as a certified clinical hypnotherapist and QHHT practitioner.

“She’s dedicated her life to her country and to Canadians,” Perrault said.

“She joined the military at a time when women weren’t very well received and it was very much a man’s world and she was a trailblazer for women. She paved the way of what it really is today and where we accept women in the military.”

Wylie also received multiple medals during her career, the most prestigious being the Diamond Jubilee medal presented by the Queen.

Perrault says Wylie was the "best mom ever."

“She always looked after us and she was dedicated to her kids. She was the best and blows anybody’s mom out of the park in my opinion.”

Samantha Wylie's family says she was an experienced motorcyclist who had more than 180,000 kilometres under her belt riding across North America.Wylie's family also says she was an experienced motorcyclist who had more than 180,000 kilometres under her belt riding across North America.

‘WHEN WILL THIS STOP?’: MADD CALGARY CALLS FOR END TO IMPAIRED DRIVING

Advocates against drinking and driving continue to speak out against Albertans who decide to get behind the wheel while over the legal limit of alcohol or drugs.

Rick Lundy, president of Madd Calgary, calls impaired driving a "selfish act" that dramatically increases the chance of killing innocent pedestrians or fellow drivers or passengers in vehicles on the road.

“When will this stop? It’s just heartbreaking,” he said.

“We need people to really start getting the message that impaired driving kills and once it happens to you, it's too late then to go ‘oh, I wish I would have taken a cab or I wish I would have taken Uber or I wish I would have done something different.’ It's too late.”

Lundy says education programs must be at the forefront to get the message across.

He notes Calgary police continue to make patrols on the streets and continue to catch impaired drivers frequently.

“It seems like a vicious cycle and we need people to get it, we need people to understand that you do not want to be responsible for killing somebody because that will haunt you for the rest of your life.”