Lim Taing, the father of crash survivor Pho Taing expresses his pain after losing his daughter-in-law and granddaughter in a collision with a suspected drunk driver. (Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star)Immigrants who persevered over war, separation and disease grapple with losses in fatal car crash
Wed Oct 21 2009
Jennifer Yang
Staff Reporter
Toronto Star (Canada)
The Taings survived war, sickness and poverty. But a speeding BMW shattered the family forever.
"In one minute. In one minute. Two die in just one minute," wept 72-year-old Lim Taing, his face covered with both hands.
His son, Pho Taing, was driving a minivan on Saturday night when it was sliced in two by a speeding BMW near Finch Ave. W. and Tobermory Dr.
Pho Taing's wife, Hon To, 44, and their 24-year-old daughter, Khan (Christine) Taing, were ejected from the minivan and killed instantly. Christine's godmother was also killed.
Pho Taing, 42, and a family friend, 36-year-old Hon Tran, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The speed limit in the area is 60 kilometres an hour and police estimate the 1999 BMW 540 was travelling at 200 km/h.
Roman Luskin, 21, faces numerous charges, including impaired driving and failing to take a breathalyzer.
Pho Taing has since been released from hospital and is staying with family in the Jane and Finch area. On Tuesday, he was too grief-stricken to speak about the tragedy and spent much of the day lying in bed, a table of pills and tissues at his side.
"He wishes he could have died with her," said Lim Taing, speaking through a translator.
"He lived only to get more pain. All night long, all day long, he cries all the time and becomes sick and pained."
Lim Taing said he was worried about his son, a man who loved his family deeply and had already survived many hardships.
Originally from Cambodia, the Taing family lived through the Cambodian civil war. In 1979, they were forced to flee following the Vietnamese invasion. Lim Taing said he and his wife went to Thailand while Pho, his second-eldest child, wound up at a refugee camp in Vietnam.
The two men wouldn't see each other again for nearly 20 years. Lim Taing eventually moved to Canada with his wife but he continued searching for his son, posting ads in newspapers and asking friends and acquaintances.
Father and son eventually reconnected in the early 1990s and in 1995, Pho came to Canada as a refugee. He brought with him a new wife, Hon To, and their young daughter, Christine.
"I was very happy," Taing remembered, closing his eyes.
But the family faced hardship once again when Hon To fell ill, about 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with cancer and doctors gave her five years to live, Taing said.
Pho quit his factory job to care for his ailing wife and the family began to live off government assistance. But Hon To, a devout Buddhist, fought the disease and ultimately outlived her grim prognosis by five years.
Meanwhile, Christine enrolled in nursing studies at the University of Toronto. She was set to graduate in March.
"One of the reasons she wanted to take medicine is because she wanted to take care of her mother," Lim Taing said.
Taing said his granddaughter was an "extraordinary child" who respected her parents deeply. She was so studious she would even avoid dating, he added.
Only recently, Lim Taing had been bragging to friends about his granddaughter, he said, expressing pride in her achievements. Days later, Christine and her parents were returning home from visiting a local temple when the BMW slammed into their car.
"(Pho) told me that he completely didn't see it coming," Lim Taing said.
When Pho awoke in the hospital, he didn't know his wife and child had died, Lim Taing said. On Sunday, he insisted on leaving the hospital to see them and only then did he learn of their passing, Taing said.
Lim Taing said he feels "only pain" when thinking of the tragedy. As for the other driver, he said his fate is now for to the courts to decide.
"Why (drive) like that? Why 200 kilometres an hour?" he asked, grimacing in anguish. "It's too much."
Luskin faces three counts of impaired driving causing death, three counts of criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide a breath sample.
On Tuesday morning, the Russian immigrant appeared in court wearing a white bandage around his left hand, with visible scrapes along the right side of his head. He was remanded in custody until Oct. 30, when he will return to court to set a date for a bail hearing.
Luskin has faced other charges in the past and in 2007, he was charged with failing to provide a breathalyser sample, possessing tools for the purpose of forgery and fraud, and a court order violation. The charges were stayed or withdrawn, although the record did not state why.
That same year, Luskin also pleaded guilty to five charges related to the placing of an electronic information "skimmer" on an ATM at a Kingston Scotiabank branch, according to a story in The Kingston Whig-Standard. He was given a six-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.
With files from Brendan Kennedy, John Goddard, Denise Balkissoon, Rosie DiManno and Jesse McLean
Wed Oct 21 2009
Jennifer Yang
Staff Reporter
Toronto Star (Canada)
The Taings survived war, sickness and poverty. But a speeding BMW shattered the family forever.
"In one minute. In one minute. Two die in just one minute," wept 72-year-old Lim Taing, his face covered with both hands.
His son, Pho Taing, was driving a minivan on Saturday night when it was sliced in two by a speeding BMW near Finch Ave. W. and Tobermory Dr.
Pho Taing's wife, Hon To, 44, and their 24-year-old daughter, Khan (Christine) Taing, were ejected from the minivan and killed instantly. Christine's godmother was also killed.
Pho Taing, 42, and a family friend, 36-year-old Hon Tran, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
The speed limit in the area is 60 kilometres an hour and police estimate the 1999 BMW 540 was travelling at 200 km/h.
Roman Luskin, 21, faces numerous charges, including impaired driving and failing to take a breathalyzer.
Pho Taing has since been released from hospital and is staying with family in the Jane and Finch area. On Tuesday, he was too grief-stricken to speak about the tragedy and spent much of the day lying in bed, a table of pills and tissues at his side.
"He wishes he could have died with her," said Lim Taing, speaking through a translator.
"He lived only to get more pain. All night long, all day long, he cries all the time and becomes sick and pained."
Lim Taing said he was worried about his son, a man who loved his family deeply and had already survived many hardships.
Originally from Cambodia, the Taing family lived through the Cambodian civil war. In 1979, they were forced to flee following the Vietnamese invasion. Lim Taing said he and his wife went to Thailand while Pho, his second-eldest child, wound up at a refugee camp in Vietnam.
The two men wouldn't see each other again for nearly 20 years. Lim Taing eventually moved to Canada with his wife but he continued searching for his son, posting ads in newspapers and asking friends and acquaintances.
Father and son eventually reconnected in the early 1990s and in 1995, Pho came to Canada as a refugee. He brought with him a new wife, Hon To, and their young daughter, Christine.
"I was very happy," Taing remembered, closing his eyes.
But the family faced hardship once again when Hon To fell ill, about 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with cancer and doctors gave her five years to live, Taing said.
Pho quit his factory job to care for his ailing wife and the family began to live off government assistance. But Hon To, a devout Buddhist, fought the disease and ultimately outlived her grim prognosis by five years.
Meanwhile, Christine enrolled in nursing studies at the University of Toronto. She was set to graduate in March.
"One of the reasons she wanted to take medicine is because she wanted to take care of her mother," Lim Taing said.
Taing said his granddaughter was an "extraordinary child" who respected her parents deeply. She was so studious she would even avoid dating, he added.
Only recently, Lim Taing had been bragging to friends about his granddaughter, he said, expressing pride in her achievements. Days later, Christine and her parents were returning home from visiting a local temple when the BMW slammed into their car.
"(Pho) told me that he completely didn't see it coming," Lim Taing said.
When Pho awoke in the hospital, he didn't know his wife and child had died, Lim Taing said. On Sunday, he insisted on leaving the hospital to see them and only then did he learn of their passing, Taing said.
Lim Taing said he feels "only pain" when thinking of the tragedy. As for the other driver, he said his fate is now for to the courts to decide.
"Why (drive) like that? Why 200 kilometres an hour?" he asked, grimacing in anguish. "It's too much."
Luskin faces three counts of impaired driving causing death, three counts of criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide a breath sample.
On Tuesday morning, the Russian immigrant appeared in court wearing a white bandage around his left hand, with visible scrapes along the right side of his head. He was remanded in custody until Oct. 30, when he will return to court to set a date for a bail hearing.
Luskin has faced other charges in the past and in 2007, he was charged with failing to provide a breathalyser sample, possessing tools for the purpose of forgery and fraud, and a court order violation. The charges were stayed or withdrawn, although the record did not state why.
That same year, Luskin also pleaded guilty to five charges related to the placing of an electronic information "skimmer" on an ATM at a Kingston Scotiabank branch, according to a story in The Kingston Whig-Standard. He was given a six-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.
With files from Brendan Kennedy, John Goddard, Denise Balkissoon, Rosie DiManno and Jesse McLean
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