A 70-year-old school bus driver---who was critically injured in a crash two weeks ago--has died.
Brenda Rybiak was driving the bus on July 13, when it collided with a mobile crane at the corner of Rogers Stevens and McCordick.
Her 17-year-old passenger was not hurt in the crash. The driver of the crane suffered minor injuries.
Nepean-Carleton MPP Lisa MacLeod announced on Twitter that her "dear friend" passed away Monday night.
My dear friend Brenda Rybiak passed last night after her bus crashed into a crane a few weeks ago. Benefit for her Thurs 6pm @MarlboroughPub
— Lisa MacLeod (@MacLeodLisa) July 25, 2017
MacLeod posted a statement to Facebook Sunday, attributed to Rybiak’s family, which said they made the difficult decision to remove her from life support.
"We want to thank everyone for their continued prayers and support for mother,” The statement said. “Thursday our family met with the doctors and mother's chances recovery are not sustainable to any quality of life. We asked the doctors for the weekend to process what we know mother would want and what we would have to do. We are respecting mother's wishes and will remove her from life support tomorrow and let her go and let her body be healed in heaven. With this process it can take a few days before mother passes. We ask that you continue to pray for our family during this very difficult time. We also ask that you remember her Rideau Bus family as well. Mother impacted so many of our lives and will continue to do so in memory. We will post again when arrangements have been made to celebrate her life. With much love and gratitude, Randy and M'Lisa"
Condolences from other members of the community came in on social media after the announcement was made.
Earlier today, we also lost Brenda Rybiak. My school bus driver when I was younger, she always made me responsible for my actions!
— Scott Moffatt (@ScottMoffatt21) July 24, 2017
CORRECTION NOTE: The date of the crash was mistakenly published as July 12. The crash happened July 13.