BEST OF 2017 #23 A Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) medic tragically passed away Sunday following a parachuting accident.

A Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) medic tragically passed away Sunday following a parachuting accident.

Twenty-nine year old Officer Cadet Betiana “Betty” Mubili was taking part in a solo recreational jump near Petawawa. It is believed that there was an issue with the parachute, causing Mubili to land in a field off Black Bay Road near the Pembroke Airport.

She was immediately taken to the hospital but passed away shortly after.

An Afghanistan veteran, Mubili is reported to have moved to Canada in the early 2000s from Zambia. She joined the CAF right from high school in 2006. She had been posted to Petawawa for just under a year.

“She was a strong soldier who had lots of potential,” said Maj. Rachel Comeau, who was Mubili’s commanding officer for nearly two years while she was posted to Central Medical Equipment Depot.

Comeau says she was shocked to hear the news.

“Once your CO of the unit, it’s like they’re all your children and you want to take care of them as much as you can. When you hear things like that it almost feels like you lost one of your own,” stated Comeau.

Comeau had the opportunity to promote Mubili to the rank of Master Corporal in December. Most recently, Mubili was working towards becoming a commissioned member of the CAF as a nurse. As part of her training, she was to be posted to Toronto and be close to her family.

“She had lots of fun adventures head of her she had a lot of good news on her side recently. So, it’s very sad that she will never get to realize her dreams,” added Comeau.

The Transportation Safety Board was notified of the incident.

The Ontario Provincial Police is currently investigating.

“It will take time for us to put all the pieces together and try to determine a sequence of events and what exactly happened,” said Cst. Shawn Peever, Media Relations/Renfrew County Crime Stoppers Coordinator/Community Safety Officer.