A Russian woman living in Bowden whose husband died of a heart attack on Oct. 20 is seeking the community's help to allow her to go home to her young daughter.
Veronika Kuznetsova, who spoke to the Olds Albertan through an interpreter, and her 37-year-old husband Alexander were returning home from shopping for groceries when Alexander collapsed at the front door of their home and died.
Alexander had worked as a truck driver and had started to show signs he was unwell as early as the Thanksgiving weekend but Kuznetsova said he would not take time off work or go to he hospital out of fear he could lose his job.
The couple had lived in Canada for nine years and just under a year in Bowden but their 11-year-old daughter Victoria remained in Russia with Veronika's mother.
Kuznetsova said she and Alexander had plans to bring Victoria, who they had not seen in five years, to Canada and have her attend school here.
But with Alexander's death, and because she has no family and only a handful of friends in Canada, Veronika is trying to gather enough money to move to Kaliningrad, a city near the Baltic Sea where her mother and daughter are living, in the next week.
She also needs money for the costs of Alexander's cremation, as well as the costs associated with transporting his remains back to Russia.
Kuznetsova, with the help of her landlord, Kelly Brewster, organized a garage sale on Oct. 26 to raise some money for the trip.
Brewster is also accepting donations on behalf of Kuznetsova until Nov. 1.
She can be reached at 403-597-5965 or [email protected].
