Grieving sons say they learned about mother’s death in Dominican Republic from reporter

The sons of a Winnipeg woman killed in a bus crash in the Dominican Republic say they are wracked with grief and have received little support from Canadian officials.

Kim and Richard Pattyn were passengers on a bus that was taking vacationers from the Punta Cana airport to their hotels on March 1. The bus slid off the highway in the tourist area of La Romana, killing two Manitobans — Kim Pattyn, 57, and Colleen Fullerton, 67, from Lockport — and injuring 13 other Canadians.

Ashton and Brady Kropla last heard from their mother, Kim Pattyn, when she texted them from the bus to comment on the heavy traffic. They didn’t think much of it when there were no other texts because they figured the couple were relaxing.

On Monday evening, their biological father told them about news reports of a bus crash in the Dominican Republic. That’s when they began to worry.

They said they failed to receive information when they called Global Affairs Canada and Sunwing Vacations.

When Ashton called the hotel where his mother was supposed to be staying, the desk clerk told him she had checked in, but then changed his stance after talking to a supervisor.

“We felt like we had to beg for answers,” he told the Free Press Thursday.

Minutes after learning about the crash, a news reporter in Toronto called Ashton to ask if he was related to his mother. The family called the reporter back, who told him a report from the Dominican Republic, entirely in Spanish, had been published. It said his mother — using her maiden name, Lafantaisie — had been killed in the crash, and included her passport photo.

Ashton described the feeling as “a mixture of shock and denial.”

“That’s probably the worst puzzle I’ve ever been able to put together,” he said.

Hours later, Ashton called Global Affairs again, who then confirmed Kim’s death, and Winnipeg police officers showed up at his door, confirming it again.

Richard Pattyn, who was hospitalized and required surgery, contacted them Wednesday. Richard, who was a Transit bus driver for more than 28 years before retiring, told them the driver had been speeding, said Ashton.

“He told me this, this will haunt him for the rest of his life, what he saw,” Ashton said.

The bus was operated by one of Sunwing’s third-party providers.

Sunwing has said it will pay for the medical expenses of injured Canadians and the repatriation of remains. It vowed to “do all that we can do to minimize the risk of something like this happening in the future.”

Ashton said that’s of little comfort. They have been struggling with the paperwork and decision-making needed to repatriate their mother home. He said Sunwing offered to fly him and his brother to the Dominican Republic, leaving him to wonder if he was receiving the same offers as family members of victims who had been injured.

“Do you know who you’re talking to? My mom is dead, I have no interest in going there, I have to get her back here,” he said. “If I could put her on my back and carry her, I would go there.”

The brothers say their mother was endlessly generous, giving all of her time and energy to Richard, her sons, her work at Manitoba Health, and devotion to charity.

“I went to her, really, for everything — if it wasn’t talking to her on a phone call, we’d be texting non-stop … she would always be there if I ever needed anything,” said Brady.

The trip to the Dominican Republic was only the second vacation she had taken in her life.

“She was the most giving, wonderful, sweet, kind, most beautiful person ever,” Ashton said. “Selfless — never gave a single thing to herself, never took anything, gave everything away.”

Those who volunteered with her describe her as an avid cat lover who worked with local rescues and couldn’t bear to see a stray cat suffer.

“She was the most caring person I’ve ever met,” said Mistir Hari, who worked with Pattyn to rescue animals. “She was an amazing animal lover.”

Pattyn also volunteered with The Doughnators, a group that fundraises for animal rescue in Winnipeg by making and selling perogies.

Her death isn’t just a loss to their family, Ashton said, but a loss for the communities she helped.

“If you have a parent, give them a hug and tell them you love them as much as you can,” he said. “Because we’re never going to get that chance to tell our mom that we love her ever again.”

— With files from Nicole Buffie and The Canadian Press

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca