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Christa's husband wants to know if you are a Zero

Christa Stephanie (Lukenda) Michaud's short but full life was celebrated at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish on Friday.
Christa Stephanie (Lukenda) Michaud's short but full life was celebrated at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish on Friday.
 
Her many friends and family members said their final good-byes to the 28-year-old who was struck and killed by a pickup truck near the corner of McNabb Street and Algoma Avenue a week before. 
 
Michael Casselman, Age 54, was driving that pickup truck and he has been charged with impaired drinking causing death.
 
Police aren't sure if Christa was riding or walking her bike but they know she was traveling west on the south side of McNabb Street when Casselman veered toward her, shearing off a utility pole and striking her almost head on. 
 
On Saturday the family launched a campaign against drinking and driving with the release of a T-shirt designed by Christa's husband, Ryan Michaud.
 
The shirt asks, 'Are you a zero?' in reference to the amount of alcohol they believe should be in a person's bloodstream when he or she gets behind the wheel of a car - zero percent.
 
"Fight for what's right! 0% alcohol!  Are you a zer0?" says the campaign on TeeSpring.
 
The Lukenda/Michaud clan is tight and they are banding together to fight against drinking and driving they told SooToday.com when they were setting up a memorial for Christa at the corner where the collision happened.
 
Where some families have folded under the weight of such horror and deep sorrow, the Lukenda/Michaud clan has been galvanized to action, finding strength and healing in planning how they will fight to save other families from the pain inflicted by drunk drivers.  
 
All of them are strong, capable and determined.
 
That was clear in their expressions of grim determination as they stood on the corner where, not even 24-hours earlier, the baby of the family of 10 siblings was hit and killed by a drunk driver.
 
"Christa was an incredible sister who lived so much in 28 years," said brother Damian Lukenda in a memorial to her poured from his soul the day after she was taken from her family.
 
There was one family member noticeably missing that Saturday when they placed photos, candles and stuffed animals in memory of Christa at the utility pole on the corner of McNabb Street and Algoma Avenue.
 
Her husband of just 14 months, her best friend and soul-mate, Ryan Michaud, could not bring himself to be there, said Darlene Gallagher, Christa's eldest sister.  
 
"If he were here he would say that, if and when he can ever get through this, he would want to tell Christa's story so people would not drink and drive," she said.
 
Christa and Michaud met during one of her summers home from the University of Windsor in Windsor, ON, and the two were married in Scotland last June.
 
After the wedding they toured Europe and finally returned to the Sault for a reception with their large, enthusiastic family.
 
In September they left for Saint Maarten in the Caribbean to teach for their fifth and final year.
 
The plan was to return to the Sault for the summer and then head to Singapore to teach for a couple more years before starting a family of their own.
 
"She was a natural teacher," said her sister Marissa Marques. "She was so caring and so giving. All of us are helpers like Christa. Some are teachers, we have a doctor in the family, an occupational therapist. It's a natural extension to want to help other families avoid this pain."
 
The family is adamant that it was alcohol that caused the crash that killed their baby sister. 
 
Not the corner.
 
"If it had been any other corner, it would have been the same," Gallagher said. "It wasn't the corner."
 
It all comes down to a drunk driver, said Lukenda.
 
"Her birthday was November 11, Remembrance Day," he added. "Now we'll be remembering her in our fight against drunk driving."
 
Marques said the family intends to focus on drunk drivers and do all it can to keep them off the road.
 
"We can't get her back," she said with clear conviction and tears welling up in her eyes. "But, if we can save just one child - just one family from this hell - it will be enough."
 

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Earlier SooToday.com coverage of this story
 

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Carol Martin

About the Author: Carol Martin

Carol has over 20-years experience in journalism, was raised in Sault Ste. Marie, and has also lived and worked in Constance Lake First Nation, Sudbury, and Kingston before returning to her hometown to join the SooToday team in 2004.
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