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Tonight the world is mourning the loss of 298 people who were on flight MH-17 when it was shot down over Ukraine. One of those passengers was a 24-year old medical student from Ontario, who was vacationing with his girlfriend. Also on the flight — dozens of researchers and advocates who were on their way to the international AIDS conference in Australia. And as the world continues to search for answers and determine who’s responsible for firing the missile, those who know the passengers are now trying to cope with the reality that they will never see their loved ones again.
The downing of a Malaysian Airlines passenger jet over Ukraine has meant tragedy for a family here in the GTA. One Canadian was among almost three hundred killed when the plane shot down by a surface to air missile. Andrei Anghel was a promising young medical student. And his family says his death is a loss to them, and to the future of medical research.
Andrei Anghel was 24-years old. He studied science at the University of Waterloo and went to medical school in Romania, his family’s homeland.
On his linked in page, he said he planned to learn and bring new knowledge to the world.
For his family, the news of his death in the plane crash was devastating.
Alexandra Anghel, sister: “I’m never going to get to hug him again.”
Andrei’s sister Alexandra says was a cheerful, positive person with big ambitions.
Alexandra: “He was a very outgoing happy person. He loved life. He never really let anything get him down.”
He loved medical school, and wanted to do research.
Alexandra: “He wanted to change the world. He wanted to find cure for stuff that people are dying for. He wanted to change the world, he wanted to make it better.”
Andrei’s father Sorin says he was kind, outgoing, liked meeting people, and wanted to find a cure for cancer.
Andrei was on his way to Bali with his German girlfriend Olga when their plane was shot down.
His sister says at first, she hoped this news of his death was just a bad dream.
Alexandra: “He just had so much going for him and he was so excited about where his life was going and was so happy with where he was and where he was going and now that just got taken away from his and it just breaks my heart to think he’s never going to get to experience.”
As for this horrific situation of a passenger plane being shot down, Andrei’s family is so overcome by grief they say it’s not something they can really think about much right now. They say they will be angry at some point, but that won’t bring him back.
