Marc Mazerolle of Inkerman, N.B., broke down in tears as he recounted learning his son had died while he was deployed with the Ukrainian army.
“It’s a feeling no parent should go through,” he said in an interview.
In late February, 24-year-old Patrick Mazerolle told his parents he had gone to Poland and volunteered to fight with the Ukrainian army in the Russia-Ukraine war.
His parents had believed he was going to the U.K. for a vacation.
“I said, ‘You can’t make a decision in the spur of the moment! Have you thought about it?’” Marc Mazerolle recalled.
Patrick then told him he had been thinking about making this decision for two years, visiting shooting ranges, taking boxing classes and training to prepare.
Mazerolle said had he known this was the case, he would have burned his son’s passport to stop him from going, fearing for his safety.
He said he doesn’t know why Patrick volunteered, but that ever since he was a kid, he always wanted to help people in need.
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Marc and his wife stayed in regular contact with Patrick until May 27th, when he told them he was going to be deployed and sent to the front lines.
Patrick told them he wouldn’t be able to use his phone as he was told he could be tracked through it.
Months went by without hearing from his son.
“As time was going by, it was getting heavier by the day,” Mazerolle said.
Finally, he received a call from his son’s friend who was also serving in the Ukrainian army, telling him Patrick was killed by a drone strike on September 1st.
Mazerolle said he hasn’t gotten an official confirmation despite reaching out to multiple levels of government.
In statement sent to Global News on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada said ” (We) aware of unconfirmed reports that a Canadian citizen may have recently died in Ukraine.
We do not maintain a registry of Canadian citizens serving in volunteer units in Ukraine, nor a registry of citizens who have been injured or killed in the conflict,” the statement read.
They added no additional details would be disclosed due to privacy considerations.
Mazerolle said he’s unsure how to bring Patrick’s body home.
“Bodies are extremely hard to get. Officially I got no official (death certificate). I cannot make a proper funeral for him for I don’t know how long,” Mazerolle said.
Mazerolle said dozens of people came out to a local church on Monday evening to show their support.
“Everybody he knew, he touched a lot of people. Even if he was quiet and shy, he had a heart 20 times bigger than he was,” Mazerolle said.
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