‘Quickly became a brother to all of us’: Sea to Sky crash victim remembered by friend
Posted December 3, 2023 7:41 pm.
One week since a devastating crash on the Sea to Sky highway that killed two adults and a child, a friend of one of the victims is coming to terms with the loss.
Hannah Alstad met Josafat Portillo, a victim of the crash, in Grade 10.
“He was new to the school… and there were rumours of him being a really good musician, and hopefully a strong male addition to our theatre team,” Alstad said.
She remembers that by Grade 11, he had joined the school’s musical theatre team and took part in their production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.
On Nov. 26, Portillo was killed alongside his daughter and brother-in-law when their vehicle drove off the highway and hit a tree. His wife, Iris, was the lone survivor of the crash.
Alstad says she found out about the news through a GoFundMe page set up for Portillo’s family and immediately called one of her friends from high school, who also knew Portillo.
“We called eachother and just started crying,” she said. “You never think it’s going to happen to someone so close to you.”
Despite losing touch with him after graduating high school, Alstad says Portillo had the kind of comforting presence that feels like family.
“He very quickly became a brother to all of us,” she said. “He was the most kind, gifted and loving person ever.”
Now, Alstad says their theatre troupe is focused on compiling a bunch of photos, words of encouragement and memories into a Google Drive for Iris and Josafat’s mum.
“Anything we can do to help remember his legacy and make space for the tenderness that there will be in this healing process,” she said.
“I don’t think it will stop here, I think we’ll kind of shoulder (Iris) into our family the same way we did with Josafat because I know she’ll need it right now.”
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–With files from Maria Vinca
