'It shatters families': Widow urges against impaired driving

'Don't drink and drive' widow of crash victim says Justine Ellis lost her husband Stuart Eliis at the hand of an impaired driver who crashed into his car head on. Tracy Tong reports.

The widow of a man killed in a suspected drunk driving collision is urging people to not drink and drive this holiday season.

Justine Ellis spoke to CTV News Toronto Wednesday to explain how her “world was shattered” since her husband's death earlier this month.

The collision took place on Highway 48 near Davis Drive just before 6 a.m. on Nov. 13.

Stuart Ellis, 28, was heading south on the highway at the time when a northbound vehicle reportedly drifted over the middle line striking him head-on.

Ellis was pronounced dead at the scene.

Justine Ellis said her husband was on his way to work at the time of the crash. He was an electrician.

She was sleeping when her husband left for work and then left the house not knowing what happened.

“I got a frantic phone call from my mother-in-law at work because she was here (at their home) babysitting my son and the police had showed up at our door,” she said. “She called me telling me I had to come home because it was an emergency. Most of it is a blur after that.”

“Then I just tried to get home as quickly as I could.”

Ellis described her husband as “the best of the best.”

“I was in such shock that it didn’t process,” she said. “I still don’t think it has fully processed that he is gone.”

“He didn’t deserve this to be his ending. He worked so hard for Greyson (their son) and I to have this beautiful life and we had so many plans. He would give anybody the shirt off his back if he could. He lit up a room when he walked in and could always make a joke of something. He had a really great sense of humour.”

“He was just a loyal friend. He was my best friend.”

After finding out that the other driver involved in the crash had been charged with impaired driving, Ellis said she wants to remind people, especially ahead of the holiday season, to not drink and drive.

“I don’t want my husband to have died for no reason,” she said. “I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this. If I can even save one life that means that my husband’s life meant something. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy so if I can save someone else from feeling this pain then I really want to.”

“Please don’t drink and drive – it shatters whole families and it changes everything. Not only do I not have my husband but my kids don’t have their dad and our whole future that we had is gone so just don’t drink and drive.”

The couple has a 14-month-old child together and found out two weeks prior to the crash that they were expecting a second child.

The driver of the other vehicle was taken to hospital following the crash with “possibly life-threatening” injuries, officers said.

After the crash, police said alcohol may have been a factor in the fatal incident.

A suspect identified as 20-year-old Tyler Neilsen, of Newmarket, was charged with impaired driving causing death, taking a vehicle without consent and driving on a disqualified license on Nov. 14.

A GoFundMe page has been set up in honour of Stuart Ellis.