Canadian military veteran Travis Wright served his country overseas.

The 36-year-old husband and father of two from the Township of McNab/Braeside, near Arnprior, was attending CTS Canadian Career College in North Bay to become a paramedic.

He was killed at the intersection of the highways 11/17 bypass and Seymour Street on Nov. 28, 2017, just as he started driving home for the holidays.

According to an agreed-upon statement of facts, Wright was turning left from Seymour Street onto the bypass and had the green light to proceed.

As Wright was proceeding through the intersection at 23 km/h, Joseph Fitzgerald, 28, was northbound in the left-hand through lane and failed to stop for the red light.

Fitzgerald never attempted to brake or swerve to avoid the collision, and the force of the impact pushed Wright’s vehicle, packed with Christmas for his wife and children, more than six metres.

Fitzgerald, of Huntsville, plead guilty in April to criminal negligence causing death and failure to comply with a probation order. He was sentenced Friday at the North Bay Courthouse to five years in jail and a 10-year driving ban, which starts after his penitentiary sentence. He is required to provide a DNA sample.

Family and friends, including several members of the Canadian military, as well as a representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving Nipissing chapter, were in the courtroom.

Defence lawyer Andrew Perrin and Crown attorney Russell Wood proposed the joint sentence to Superior Court Justice David Nadeau Friday morning.

It was little comfort to a widowed young woman, children without a father and parents forced to bury their son whom, they said, “made a difference in this world.”

Wright’s mother, Cheryl, broke down in sobs as she read her victim impact statement.

Her message didn’t leave a dry eye in the courtroom.

With the assistance of a cane, Wright walked to the front of the courtroom, staring at Fitzgerald in the prisoner’s box.

“How do I explain the loss my family has endured?” Wright asked. “My life has changed forever and I have experienced a parent’s worst fear – hearing your child has been killed

“The pain is still in my heart. I wake up in tears, full of sorrow and grief, and my heart is broken. Travis was forcefully and violently ripped out of our lives because someone decided to drive excessively and consumed alcohol. It’s no different than you grabbing a loaded gun and pulling the trigger.”

Wright said she loved her son to pieces and shared many special mother-son moments she will cherish, because that is all she has left.

“I cherished him, I loved him and I miss him so much. Travis had a big heart and he made a difference in this world.”

Wright spoke of her son giving a homeless man the shirt off his back, it was her son’s favourite shirt, as well as saving a fellow soldier during an Afghan mission.

“He always looked forward to Fridays because he would be heading back home to see his family. I kept telling him how proud I was and the sacrifices were so worth it.”

Wright’s wife, Sarah, told court her hopes, dreams and financial stability disappeared that night in November.

Wright said her husband served 11 years as a combat engineer with the Canadian military. He was hit by an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan, survived and went back out on patrol.

She said he always sent her a text before leaving North Bay and she would wait up for him.

He didn’t send a text Nov. 28.

“I started to worry,” Wright said. “I just knew something wasn’t right. The kids went to bed and there was this knock at the door,” she said.

“’Are you Sarah?’ I responded ‘yes.’ The officer then told me my husband was killed by a drunk driver.”

Wright said the absolute worst moment was telling her children their father would never come home.

“I remember my seven-year-old scream ‘Why can’t people learn to drive?’

Travis Wright also was remembered as a “super dad” who coached soccer, helped his children learn to read, was patient and kind, as well as handy around the house.

Sarah Wright addressed Fitzgerald in her statement.

“When you plead guilty, I tried to see the potential, the good in people, but there you were laughing and joking with a friend in the courtroom. How can you laugh when a husband and father of two children is dead? I just wanted to scream. Every single part of my life changed that day,” she said.

“My daughter will not have her father to walk her down the aisle and my son will not have his dad like a son needs his father.”