March 31 marks one year since Kelowna's Hadgraft Wilson Place residents received an evacuation notice, displacing more than 80 people. 

For former Hadgraft resident Monique Saebels, that day sparked a fight for truth, one that has been fuelled by a recent car crash that claimed the life of her mom, Nicole. 

"My mom was an amazing lady, a very social butterfly," Saebels said. 

The mother and daughter had both lived at Hadgraft on Bertram Street and the uncertainty following the evacuation saw the pair grow closer. 

"She saw that we had to go from hotel to hotel. We lived at the college for three months," Saebels said of her mom who had dementia. "I think she realized then that in any situation I would be there for her. It was after that time that we went through that she started saying to me, 'What would I do without you?'... She did find a new appreciation for me and our relationship became so close."

With uncertainty on the fate of Hadgraft Wilson Place and feeling left in the dark, Saebels and another resident filed a lawsuit against the City of Kelowna and the University of B.C. on behalf of all the evacuated residents.

Hadgraft Wilson Place was one of multiple buildings evacuated through the winter of 2023 and spring of 2024 after construction from the neighbouring UBC Okanagan downtown Kelowna campus caused ground shifting and several nearby buildings to crack and deteriorate. All of the evacuated buildings, except Hadgraft, have been demolished. 

Without admitting fault, UBC offered $12,000 to each household from the low-income apartment building to help secure new housing. The offer stipulated that the funds would be deducted from any monetary award of damages should the Hadgraft residents be successful in the suit. 

Saebels and her mom moved into a two-bedroom apartment in West Kelowna after the offered stay at Okanagan College expired. 

The fate of Hadgraft Wilson Place is not yet known, but in November 2024 the City of Kelowna approved both a new 40-storey tower neighbouring the Bertram Street apartments and responded to the lawsuit denying any involvement and denying "the loss and damages claimed by the plaintiffs or class members". 

As the new year rolled in, Saebels said it was off to a good start where they celebrated her mom's 90th birthday and took a small vacation. 

The frustrations of the Hadgraft evacuation arose again in mid-February when UBC filed its response to the lawsuit also denying responsibilities. The lawsuit alleges the defendants were negligent and failed to protect people and property from hazardous conditions when conducting the excavating work required for underground parking at the site. 

About a week later after UBC filed its response to the lawsuit, Saebels' life changed again when her Mitsubishi was hit at the intersection of Highway 97 and Highway 33 on Feb. 27. Saebels' mom died as a result of the crash. 

Kelowna RCMP reported that the BMW that caused the crash was being followed by the Uniform Gang Enforcement Team prior to the collision and the Independent Investigations Office of BC (IIO) would look into the incident. 

The IIO report was concluded and released to the public one month less a day after the crash finding the gang unit officers had lawful grounds to follow the uninsured BMW and were not responsible for the BMW's driving behaviour. 

Now, Saebels is appealing to the public for video leading up to and of the crash to get a better understanding of what happened. 

The crash

Feb. 27 is a day that will be etched in Saebels' memory forever. 

Saebels, her mom Nicole, and her seven-year-old granddaughter spent the day together. The girls' day included an afternoon at Scandia with fun in the arcade. 

"We had so much fun. My mom was sitting at a table watching us while Brooklyn was playing on all these machines and dancing. [My mom] was so happy."

On the ride home, Brooklyn sat in the back singing away with Saebels driving and Nicole in the passenger seat. 

"We were laughing because Brooklyn was being goofy adding words to the song," Saebels explained of the moments before the vehicle was hit. "My mom said, 'Brooklyn I'm so proud of you, you're such a good singer.' And Brooklyn was all excited and happy."

That laughter quickly turned to screams. 

"We pulled up to the light at Highway 33... and then all of a sudden, bam. It's spinning and spinning and then another bam. It still feels like I'm in a nightmare."

Acting quickly, Saebels kicked her door out and rushed to her granddaughter. "Hearing Brooklyn's blood-curdling scream, I panicked."

The dust from the airbags looked like smoke and with fear that her vehicle was on fire, Saebels pulled her granddaughter from the SUV.

Saebels tried to go back to the vehicle to get her mom but was pushed back by emergency personnel. 

"A very kind lady named Kim held my mom's hand until she died," Saebels said tearfully. Nicole was pulled from the vehicle and paramedics began CPR, but the life-saving efforts were unsuccessful. 

Saebels and her granddaughter were also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Although the IIO released its report finding officers not responsible, the cause of the crash and any possible charges against the BMW driver have not been shared. 

"I feel that the IIO should have contacted our family, as well. I think it would have been the decent thing to do before I have to read it everywhere in the media," Saebels noted that she was not contacted by the investigations office during the month-long investigation and her own calls to the office were not returned. 

"I hope that there's somebody out there that can fill in the blanks. I don't think our family can have closure, because there's so much that's unanswered."

The IIO's Chief Civilian Director Jessica Berglund said an investigation can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of years, but is never closed for good. 

"Anytime there is additional information, any new evidence that we didn't have at the time that I made the decision we look at it," Berglund said. "If there is something that we didn't consider or that we missed we will absolutely consider it."

Saebels is looking for witnesses or any video footage that captured the crash to email her at saebels.m35@gmail.com. 

"After everything I've been through I've lost faith in humanity, and the people in Kelowna that have responded to what's happened to us at Hadgraft, who have responded to what happened in my accident, those are the people that keep me going," Saebels choked back tears. "I am so grateful because, in any kind of trauma, you just want to feel like someone understands."

Now without her mom, Saebels has to move once again as she can't afford the two-bedroom unit the pair shared. 

"Kelowna is a bit tainted for me," Saebels said. After the evacuation from Hadgraft, the resident had told Black Press she wasn't sure about staying in the Central Okanagan. "With our accident and everything that has happened and the way people have been, I am more inclined to stay in Kelowna - but fight for Kelowna, too."

Saebels continues to be the leading voice of Hadgraft Wilson Place residents in the class action suit and plans to fight for justice for her mom in the crash that claimed her life. 

"When I get well, we've got a hell of a fight on our hands."

Kelowna RCMP is also investigating the Feb.27 crash. Black Press has reached out for comment.