Someone died, the family needs your help.(*Help was found)

Discussion Open Forum
1

Some of you may remember the tragic death of a fellow named Chris who died in a traffic accident in Tainan only a few months ago. The same thing happened to his girlfriend last Sunday. Her family is poor and they need help. Please read the following.

Mods, could you please make that a sticky for just a little while?(Until June 17th) I’m sure many of us would greatly appreciate it. I can’t post links to specific posts on this website btw.

God bless.

[quote]This was the original message posted on Connect Kaohsiung:

Send Her Home

Jana Mattie was from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. She had lived and
taught English in Tainan for a little over a year when the was
tragically killed in a traffic accident near the corner of YongHua Rd.
and JinHua Rd. early in the morning Sunday, June 11^th , only months
after her boyfriend, Chris, died in a similar manner.

Jana was an aspiring kiteboarder, artist, and guitar player. She was, as
all who knew her will attest, the kindest and most generous of souls.

Now, Jana’s family needs to rely on the generosity of others to help
them give their daughter a proper burial, and to obtain some measure of
closure. Jana’s parents are not financially capable of shipping their
dead daughter’s body home for a funeral. Though the exact cost is still
being worked out, initial estimates come to around NT$300,000 (approx.
$10,000 CAN).

So, we are now seeking volunteers to help collect donations.

We are asking local individuals to donate money and for businesses to
add a surcharge to services this week to help send Jana home.

Money will be added to an already established fund to pay for Jana’s
trip home.

Each business that participates will be thanked in a special feature in
the fall issue of Xpat Magazine.

For more information call Matt: 09 1621 4051

This is the message posted on Connect Kaohsiung from Keith and Dale:

Hello everyone from ConnectKaohsiung,

Our names are Keith Davidson, Dale Baggs and Shane Baillargeon.
We are the creators of ConnectKaohsiung.

Kaohsiung has a very close and friendly group of foreigners
working in this town and we just found out the worst has happened to
one of these people. Hopefully we will never have to deliver news
like this again.

On Sunday morning a young girl from the east coast of Canada was
killed in a traffic accident in Tainan. Unfortunately, and
understandably, her family cannot cover the costs of returning her
body to Canada. That is where we need your help. We are asking
everyone to open their hearts to this family and help raise the
money needed.

Shane, Dale and I probably know most of the foreigners on
ConnectKaohsiung and we are asking each one of you to give a minimum
of $300 NT. Call us and we will come to your house, school, pub,
etc. and pick up the money. We will keep a record of every person
that donates. We also want to ask every person to ask their school
or company if they could also contribute.

We want to thank everyone in advance. I can’t imagine a worse
situation for this family and your generosity will help soften this
horrible change to their lives.

All donations must be received before this Saturday, June 17.

We will be at the Lighthouse on Thursday night from 10 till 1 if
you want to drop off your donation.

Again thank you Kaohsiung.

Please contact Keith at 0930200445.
Please contact Dale at 0917240206.
Please contact Shane at 0917450101.[/quote]

2

[quote=“Mother Theresa”]I’ve heard of maybe a half-dozen foreigners dying in Taiwan in my 6 years here. Now we learn of a foreign boyfriend and girlfriend who each died here within months of each other in traffic accidents in Tainan. What are the odds? Were they both extremely careless in crossing the road? Is Tainan’s traffic particularly hazardous? Did she step in front of a car out of grief over the loss of her boyfriend?

If she really is an actual person who was killed it’s very sad. Same for him. What an odd and unfortunate coincidence, though.[/quote]
Yes, she and her boyfriend were actual people, many people in Tainan met them in real life. Both were only in their early 20s. It’s very sad.

3

That’s an incredible bummer.

HG

4

Have the parents contacted the Canadian rep office in Kaohsiung or in Taipei? Seems rather unlikely that they’d be totally unsympathetic to a plea for help. And what about travel insurance? You’re not telling me the victim didn’t have travel insurance? Even the most basic policy usually has a clause covering death overseas.
Foreign boyfriend and girlfriend killed within months of each other and it hasn’t made the papers? Why not? That’s news.
Bobepine, this needs to be publicized. Tell your mates to get some kind of press release together and get this out to the foreign community.

EDIT: From the link on the other thread, it seems they’ve already raised the money they need and are asking people to stop sending more.

[quote]I am ecstatic to announce that Jana will be going home very soon. The
final cost turned out to be fairly close to our estimate and as it
turned out the family was able to raise the funds to pay for it.

So, I would like to ask everyone involved to stop fundraising as it is
no longer necessary.[/quote]
No more money please

Mod, can we un-sticky this one now?

5

Thanks to the mod for sticking this up and for splitting the thread too. It can be un-stickied whenever you get a chance. Thanks for the info too Sandman. I’ve been working all day and haven’t had a chance to look into this at all. It’s good to know that Jana’s family will at least get closure.

All of you who were close to Jana, you have my most sincere sympathy through such difficult times.

[quote]A brief candle; both ends burning
An endless mile; a bus wheel turning
A friend to share the lonesome times
A handshake and a sip of wine
So say it loud and let it ring
We are all a part of everything
The future, present and the past
Fly on proud bird
You’re free at last.[/quote]

bobepine