It has been six months since Alejandro Samper’s life changed forever.
“There’s days that I’m completely broken, like day one, and then there’s other days that my friends and my support system are there, and I feel motivated and strong to not give up and just continue forward,” he told Global News.
“A lot of the times, I’ll always just think of my family, what they would say to me, what they would want from me, and that usually helps me when I’m feeling really low. But every day it’s a new day. Could be bad, could be good.”
Samper’s mother, Glitza, his father, Daniel, and his sister, Glitza, were killed after a vehicle rammed a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver on April 26.
Samper, 34, wasn’t at the festival with them, as he was about to start work when he received a call about an accident.
“I didn’t know the severity of the accident, but I rushed to the site, and all the streets were blocked off,” he said.
“I wasn’t able to go in and look for them. The police just told me that everyone has been rushed to the Vancouver General Hospital, and then I went there, and my sister was the only one there. Nobody knew where my mother and father were at the time.”
Samper’s sister was severely injured with a brain bleed and internal injuries. She passed away in the hospital.
It wasn’t until the next day that Samper learned his mother and father had died at the scene.
“For some reason, I never got to see them, their bodies, or to say goodbye to anyone,” he said.
Samper says they were a close family who loved each other very much.
It’s that love and those memories that motivate him to keep going, even in his darkest times.
“My mom, yeah, she was a pillar of strength, faith, hope,” he said. “She was very loving, the most beautiful soul I’ve ever met in my life.”
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“She had a huge heart for other people, for animals. She loved helping others. Everyone she met they instantly fell in love with her, like she just was radiating good energy, and she attracted a lot of people, and good people so and also she was a great mentor and therapist. She taught me to have faith, to be close to God, no matter what, to just be a good person.”
Samper said his father was the brightest and smartest man he has ever met in his life.
“Just like my mother, he had a huge heart for his family, for other people,” he said. “He was brilliant in so many subjects; he encouraged me to study mechanical engineering, to just never give up with my goals, my dreams. He was my mentor.”
Samper said his father was also very spiritual, kind, and generous.
His sister, Glitza, was a reflection of his mother and father, he said.
“Everyone she met, everyone had good things to say about her. She touched many people’s hearts. She had a huge passion for people and animals. She was an incredible mentor to a lot of her friends. She taught me that friends can be family, and she taught me to always, always… push forward.”
Samper said his sister was his biggest fan, and he looked up to her because she had an incredible heart for people and many friends.
The family emigrated from Colombia about 25 years ago and Samper said they loved to attend festivals and learn about other cultures through food, music and people.
“They always admired the Filipino community for how resilient and hard-working and loving these people were,” Samper said.
“We always went out every weekend to do family things. At the time, I was working, but whenever there was an event, they were there, especially a Filipino event with food trucks; they love trying different foods.”
Eleven people were killed and dozens more were injured when an SUV drove into the crowd at the Lapu Lapu Festival in Vancouver.
Samper said he is still in disbelief at what happened.
“It does make me think, though,” he said. “No matter what, you just got to live your life to the fullest (like) your last day, because there’s no point in living afraid and scared, that’s not living, so it’s very tragic that this happened. There’s times that I wish I was there, wish I was with them right now — for some reason, I’m still here.”
Samper is now hoping to turn the tragedy into a legacy for his family.
“When I saw my sister in the hospital, flatline in front of my eyes, that was the worst pain I’ve ever felt,” he said.
“I was very confused to what I was supposed to do. So I prayed to them, to my mother, my father and my sister, asking for strength and guidance. What am I supposed to do now? And it became very clear that I should choose a path of honoring their lives. You know, a path where I would carry on their light, their love, their traditions, the things they did, the people they took care of.
“So I made a promise to myself and my family and my sister passed that I would create a foundation or a society… to transform this tragedy, stop this cycle of violence and expose the flaws in the system that allowed this to happen.”
Kai-Ji Adam Lo is accused of driving an SUV through a crowd of people at the street festival on April 26.
He faces 11 counts of second-degree murder and 31 counts of attempted murder in the attack.
In September, a judge ruled that Lo is fit to stand trial.
Investigators have previously said that Lo had extensive mental health interactions with police before the April incident.
Vancouver police confirmed he had been in contact with police in a neighbouring municipality the day before the vehicle attack, but the interaction was not criminal in nature and “did not rise to the level where mental health intervention was required.”
Samper said his legacy organization, the Semper-Caicado Legacy Society, will host workshops and events for people who have suffered from trauma or are experiencing mental health issues, to gather together and explore different creative outlets to heal and express themselves through art, music or activities.
“The main purpose is transforming this tragedy into a positive change in our community,” he said. “Everything that gets raised in this society will be put back into this community, into this society. I’m not gonna take any cent from it.
“I have my own business. I don’t need money. I realized that when I leave this world, I want to feel confident that I made a difference.”
Samper said his sister and mother loved art and being in nature and how it can bring people together.
He said the first workshop will be held on Nov. 30 and priorities for this session will be given to the victims of the festival tragedy.
Mostly, he wants to create change.
“Things need to change in this city,” he said. “My parents didn’t bring us… We didn’t immigrate here for this, to just end with this.”
