Cynthia Key confirmed that it was her brother, Anthony Norman Douglas Key, 28, who was hit on June 26, just after 7 p.m., at Dewdney Avenue and Garnet Street in Regina. The driver remained at the scene while Key was rushed to the hospital by EMS. “I was in shock,” Key told CBC News. “I honestly didn’t know what to think or do right now, but I just knew I had to go with my brother because I know he needed me.” He said Anthony suffered a crushed right rib, a punctured lung and was breathing with the help of a ventilator. When I got to the ER, I touched his hand and said, “I’m here, I’m here bro. You don’t need to worry. I’m here.’- Cynthia Key “When I got to the ER, I touched his arm and said, ‘I’m here, I’m here, bro. No need to worry, I’m here. I will be here. At every step. All you have to do is rest now,” Key recalled. “And as soon as I started talking … he started moving his whole body, so he knew I was there in that moment with him.” However, Anthony never regained consciousness. Key says her entire family was with Anthony when he died peacefully on the morning of July 3, a week after the crash. Anthony Key, shown here as a young boy, enjoyed graffiti and riding his bike. (Submitted by Cynthia Key) “It makes me feel better to know that my brother is no longer in pain and suffering, because he didn’t deserve to suffer and he didn’t deserve machines to live for him,” Key said. Key said her brother’s body has not yet been released to the family as an autopsy is underway. Therefore, the official cause of death remains unknown.
Two deaths in the family
Key says the family is grieving not only her brother, but also her grandmother, who died four months ago, so “two big losses”. Key says Anthony’s death was particularly hard on their mother as he was her first child. The matriarch has two children and two adopted children. “Seeing my mother in so much pain, it just, I don’t know, really breaks my heart because there’s four of us,” she said. “There’s two of her body and two of her heart. And for her to lose her biggest one… I don’t even know how she did it because I don’t even know how to go on without my brother.” Seeing my mother in so much pain just, I don’t know, really breaks my heart- Cynthia Key Key says her mother is strong for her remaining children, “but I know she’s broken. And I just want to take her heart out, but I can’t.” Cynthia Key says she misses her older brother, who died July 3 in Regina. (Cynthia Key) Key says Anthony always controlled her and her children. He was also a father to three of his own children, the oldest of whom is 12 years old. Key says his brother will be remembered as generous with a “big heart”. “If you needed something, he’d try to get it for you … if you needed the shirt off his back, he’d give it to you.” Key said Anthony loved to do graffiti and art and ride his bike.
Collision research
Key said that on the Sunday that Anthony died, an investigator with the Regina Police Service told her mother that the investigation was closed and that the incident had been ruled accidental. However, in a recent press release the RPS said the investigation is ongoing. The investigator confirmed to the CBC that he did meet with the deceased’s relatives and told them that no charges would be laid in connection with the collision. Key is survived by three children. (Submitted by Cynthia Key) However, the investigator also said that he has not yet completed his written report, which is why the file is marked as “still under investigation”. Technically, the case is not closed until all the documents are complete, but completing the investigator’s report will not change the outcome. Meanwhile, Key mourns her brother Anthony. “For him to be gone so soon breaks my heart. And I just want peace for my brother.”
