'Beyond devastated': Father aches for wife, daughter hit by car in Winnipeg

A mother and her young daughter, who are fighting for their lives in hospital after being hit by a car, were walking to a nearby school to meet the girl's six-year-old brother for a lunch break.

Nowa devastated husband and fatheris struggling with grief and trying to understand what happened, said a spokeswoman foran immigration organization that helpsnewcomers to Canada.

"This is a life-changing event for their family andwe ask the whole Winnipeg community to put their minds and their hearts to that mother and that child," saidDorotaBlumczynska, executive director of the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba.

"Things are very touch and go at this point."

The woman and girlwhomBlumczynskabelieves is four or five years oldwere hitonIsabel Street next to Dufferin Schoolaround noon Monday.

Blumczynskasaid she knows little at the moment about what happened, only that "they were both thrown a significant distance."

We ask the whole Winnipeg community to put their minds and their hearts to that mother and that child- DorotaBlumczynska

They were rushed to hospital in critical condition. The mother remains critical butstable and is expected to recover, though "there will be a great deal of hardship,"Blumczynskasaid.

The girl is critical and unstable condition"and she needs our prayers the most at this point."

The family isfrom Eritrea and just arrived in the city last month, settling in Winnipeg's Centennial neighbourhood, where many newcomer families live.

"They would have just moved in in the last four weeks, maybe. Their time in our community is quite brief," Blumczynska said.

Their journey here was much longer, however.

They spenta decade in refugee camps in Israel and other countries before arriving in Canada and eventually becomingtenants ofIRCOM, which runs ahousing complex just south of the intersection where the two were hit.

He was just going from shock to devastation, back and forth, through just an incredible range of emotions- DorotaBlumczynska

Blumczynska was at the hospital Monday afternoon and met with the father, who "is in just absolutely tremendous shock. He's beyond devastated."

Though there is a language barrier, Blumczynskausedtheir limited communications to grieve,console and connect.

"We did manage to exchange a few words in which he expressed a complete inability to understand how this could happen and why this would happenthat they were now in Canada and everything was [supposed to be] OK," she said.

"He was just going from shock to devastation, back and forth, through just an incredible range of emotions."

'Innumerable lives touched'

IRCOM has trauma counsellors at the site because a lot of children and a few staff members saw the accident.

"With the warm, sunny weather, there was a lot of people out on the street going between the building and the school," Blumczynskasaid.

"I think innumerable lives have been touched by this event."

The Winnipeg School Division said it also has made resource staff available for students and staff at Dufferin School.

Blumczynskasaid IRCOMhas programs to help newcomers adapt to Canadian life, including navigating the neighbourhood andtraffic awareness, particularly because Isabel isa "very, very fast street."

"We do our absolute best to equip our families with the knowledge that they need but it's a moment in time and I don't know enough about the mom's actions before the event or the actions of the driver," she said.

"I do know we have two community members who are fighting for their lives."

Police investigators are asking businesses to review security camera footage and for the drivers ofbuses, trucks and garbage trucksto check their dash cameras, in case they captured the crash.

Tips can be made to the Winnipeg police traffic division at 204-986-7085 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).