“She was very kind, she worked in a Catholic school – the students and her colleagues loved her.” said Nori Yannielli, Paradina’s sister. He came to Canada on a work visa from the Philippines and was an avid gardener with a “passion for plants,” as well as the outdoors and museums. She was the passenger on the motorcycle that collided with a deer. He was taken to a Calgary hospital, where he died. Yannielli learned of her sister’s death from Redalin’s daughter, who called her. “It was shocking, it was very painful, it was – just a nightmare, like a dream that I want to wake up (from).” Yannielli and Paradina had a close relationship with each other. Despite the distance between Jacksonville and Calgary, the two chatted via video and Paranina visited her sister. Paradina leaves behind a daughter in her twenties, who Nori said has no idea what to do. “It was so sudden and so tragic that I think anyone would be – because of shock, the funeral is expensive and I want to help her because she has no idea what her mum is going through and she’s lost.” Nori Yannielli has set up a GoFundMe to fund her sister’s funeral. The GoFundMe is asking for $10,000 for funeral expenses. Yannielli said an additional reason she is doing this is because she and her daughter don’t have enough money for funeral expenses. “I don’t have that kind of money to give her. If I could I would have given it and laid my sister’s body to rest sooner than we expect at this time.’ Fundraising is urgent: Yannielli said her sister’s body can’t be in the medical examiner’s office for long. But even if the GoFundMe doesn’t reach its $10,000 goal, Yannielli said any amount raised would be good enough. “Even if it’s not the full amount – a little bit will help.” Funeral services will be held at Mountain View Funeral Home. After the funeral, Yannielli says the plan is to cremate Redalin Paradina’s body and split the ashes: one will go to the Philippines, where she was born, while the others will go to Nori and her brother.
