Andrea Christidis had a ‘kind soul’ and dreamed of a career in medicine.

It was a dream the Scarborough teenager followed to London, to study health sciences at Western University.

A typical first-year student in many ways, Christidis lived in residence, had lots of friends and posted photos online of herself proudly sporting Mustangs’ purple.

Then, just before the Thanksgiving break, a key milestone for students away from home for the first time, the 18-year-old was struck by a vehicle — police charged a 24-year-old with offences including impaired driving causing bodily harm — while walking back to her dorm after a night of studying.

Suddenly, what should have been a time to spend with friends and family turned tragic: Christidis died of her injuries in hospital, just as the holiday weekend arrived. It’s the first pedestrian traffic death on campus in 15 years.

Christidis’ death prompted an online petition calling for guardrails to be installed along high-traffic pedestrian areas on campus, collecting more than 600 signatures by Monday.

The teenager’s family issued a statement over the holiday weekend, remembering Christidis as kind and compassionate.

“She was deeply loved, as reflected by the outpouring of condolences, sympathies and prayers from all those that she touched. Her beautiful smile, kind soul and infectious spirit will be missed,” the family said.

Friends and family members also took to social media to remember the teen.

“She was my role model and taught me so many life lessons that I will never forget. She had the biggest heart filled with such kindness. She inspired many with her knowledge and had great ambitions in life. God blessed me with a special person and took her away too soon,” Thomai Ilias wrote on Facebook.

Christidis was walking on the sidewalk on Lambton Drive near Talbot College Wednesday at 11:35 p.m. when a northbound vehicle hopped the curb and struck her, said police, who arrested a suspect at the scene.



Andrea Christidis, 18, was struck by a vehicle while walking on campus Wednesday night. Photo courtesy of John Abed

Witnesses reported seeing a white Volkswagen spin out of control before Christidis was struck, throwing her nearly 10 metres. Bystanders tended to the critically injured woman until paramedics arrived and took her to hospital.

It’s not known if the charges laid against the suspect, including dangerous driving causing bodily harm and driving with more than the legal allowable amount of alcohol in the bloodstream, will be upgraded.

“It’s still under investigation. No additional charges have been laid yet,” Const. Chris Stumpf said Monday.

A graduate of Leaside high school in Toronto, Christidis loved reading, travelling and sports like soccer and skiing.

She lived in Medway-Sydenham Hall, a short walk from the crash site, where a makeshift memorial has been erected. The scene still contained signs of the crash Monday, with glass shards and other debris littering the ground.



Flowers were places at a makeshift memorial where Western University student Andrea Christidis was struck by a vehicle. Craig Glover/The London Free Press/Postmedia Network

“This is a terrible tragedy and Andrea’s death saddens me deeply,” Western President Amit Chakma said in a statement.

“I know that I speak for the entire Western community when I say that my heart goes out to her family and friends at this most difficult time.”

It had been 15 years since a pedestrian was killed on Western’s campus.

First-year student Michelle Leslie Outerbridge, 18, was killed after being struck by a car on Western Road, just south of Sarnia Road, on Sept. 9, 2000.

A Bermuda native who’d been in Canada only a few days, Outerbridge may have looked the wrong way, forgetting that traffic travels in the opposite direction to her native country, before stepping out onto the busy stretch of road, police said at the time.

Jared DeJong, 24, of London, is charged in last week’s crash.

The funeral visitation for Christidis is Tuesday, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Heritage Funeral Centre at 50 Overlea Blvd. in Toronto, with the funeral Wednesday at St. Demetrios Church in Toronto, 30 Thorncliffe Park Dr.

dale.carruthers@sunmedia.ca

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