The family of a man killed when he was hit by a car on the Perimter Highway received support from neighbours who hosted a vigil in front of their home on Saturday.

Jeremy Kroeis, 29, died when he was hit by a vehicle on the Perimeter Highway early Friday morning.

It happened just north of Gunn Road around 12:30 a.m.

Since December, Kroeis' family said he had been experiencing painful headaches, and had double vision in his left eye.

He was on medication, and took long walks to deal with the pain.

Kroeis was unable to make it to a long overdue doctor's appointment on Thursday. His family is on welfare and they said they had been waiting on a social worker to make arrangements with a taxi to take Kroeis to a local clinic.

Around 5:00 p.m. Thursday, his family said Jeremy went out for a walk, and never returned.

They said police notified them of his death Friday afternoon.

"And then the coroner called, she told me that based on what had happened, it had rained, and he had tried to cross the street, and he slipped. She thinks he went forward and the (driver) just didn't see him," said Kroeis sister, Elyse.

In the time Kroeis was believed to be missing, his family organized a search party. Nearly 100 strangers from the neighbourhood helped hand out flyers to find the missing man.

It was those same strangers who placed a memorial outside the family's Transcona home, and who showed up on their doorstep Saturday night for an impromptu vigil.

The Kroeis family said their son Jeremy had special needs and was picked on his whole life; kids threw rocks at him, and called him names.

They said he's received more love in death than he got in life.

Kroeis' family members each live with their own health issues.

The family is on welfare, and can't afford funeral costs on their own.

For people on social assistance, the province will cover funeral costs up to $2482 but the family says they will decline that funding and instead go through Manitoba Public Insurance to cover the cost.

The family says they are overwhelmed by the support Winnipeggers have already shown in this time of need.

They originally set up a Go Fund Me page to help cover funeral costs, but have since closed the page and refunded any donations.