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‘Forever loved,’ now lost: Memorial cross gone from spot where man died in Malahat crash

On the southbound shoulder of the Malahat, a white cross emblazoned with the words “forever loved” marked the spot where Dave Paulin was killed in a head-on crash on Nov. 18, 2015.

On the southbound shoulder of the Malahat, a white cross emblazoned with the words “forever loved” marked the spot where Dave Paulin was killed in a head-on crash on Nov. 18, 2015.

His fiancée, Lisa Reid, who survived the crash, had the cross custom-made and often places flowers next to the humble memorial.

Last week, Reid discovered the cross was stolen and is pleading for it to be returned.

“I walked up and down the highway and there’s no sign of it,” Reid said.

Paulin, 33, and Reid lived in Shawnigan Lake at the time and were driving south on the Malahat near Aspen Road at 7:30 a.m. when an oncoming pickup truck crossed the centre line.

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A memorial cross that marked the spot on the Malahat where Dave Paulin died in a head-on crash in 2015 has been missing. - Courtesy Lisa Reid

Reid was seriously injured but never lost consciousness. She watched the life slip from her soul mate as she cried out for bystanders to help him.

Paulin was heading to his new job in Victoria at Airgas, a distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases.

Reid spent 10 days in hospital with a traumatic brain injury, a shattered right ankle, a broken nose and broken orbital bone.

She spent 2 1/2 years off work and returned to her job as a child care worker last February.

Reid and Paulin weren’t engaged at the time but she found out after he died that he was getting an engagement ring made.

She calls him her late fiancé because boyfriend doesn’t do justice to their three-year relationship.

“We were looking into getting a mortgage, getting a house and starting a family,” said Reid, 31.

The section of highway where Paulin was killed is now divided by median barriers, part of the Ministry of Transportation’s $34 million on safety improvements in the Malahat Village area.

Reid said the improvements are too little, too late.

“It shouldn’t have cost Dave’s life for that to happen. It’s like they’re putting a $34-million price tag on his life.”

Reid said she won’t be satisfied until 100 per cent of the Malahat has median barriers. Currently, 65 per cent of the highway has barriers, according the Ministry of Transportation.

Reid believes the cross also served as a reminder for people to slow down.

“I would hope that would be a reminder for people, God knows how many fatalities there have been on the Malahat.”

Reid removed the cross temporarily last year because she was told it was in an area where road-widening work was being done. She replaced the cross on Nov. 18, 2018. It bears the initials DDP for David Dennis Paulin and has Reid’s phone number written on the back.

Some have suggested the cross might have blown away in the Dec. 20 windstorm, but Reid said it was 30 pounds and she can still see the wilted flowers she placed in early December.

Paulin was cremated, so the cross was the closest thing to a burial site the family has, she said.

“It’s the only place people can go to mourn him and remember him,” she said.

“It means a lot to everyone. I don’t need to know who did it, but if someone could just put it back.”

At the time of the crash, West Shore RCMP Const. Alex Bérubé said the collision was caused by loss of traction, possibly due to driving too fast for the road conditions.

No charges have been laid against the driver of the pickup truck, but Reid is in the middle of a civil lawsuit against him.

kderosa@timescolonist.com