The 25-year-old bicyclist fatally run over by a truck in Brooklyn this week was a “go-getter” on her way to work when she was killed, her grieving sister told The Post on Thursday.
Kala Santiago, who fell off her bike near Prospect Park before she was killed Wednesday, leaves behind a 1-year-old and a 2-month-old, both boys, her sister Victoria said.
“This is crazy — I’m still in complete shock, like, in complete shock. I don’t even feel like this is reality,” Victoria Santiago told The Post. “Like I just feel like I want to wake up and it’s a bad dream — and she’s going to call me.”
Kala was “the go-getter” who was “trying to better herself for her kids” when she was killed, said Victoria, one of three sisters.
The Brooklyn resident and mother of two young children was remembered as a “go-getter” by her grieving sister. Facebook/Kala Santiago“And that’s what gets me so upset. It’s not like she was just going anywhere,” said Victoria, 28. “She was going to work to provide for her kids, my nephews.”
Kala was headed east on Parkside Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens around 7 a.m. when she apparently dodged something in the street and fell from her ride, her sister and cops said. A tractor-trailer headed in the same direction then ran over her on the ground, her sister said.
The driver stayed on the scene but hasn’t been arrested, leaving the family with questions and calling for further investigation.
Santiago’s family are calling for an investigation into the crash. William Farrington“We just want to raise awareness, like for people to be cautious. You know, like it’s a lot going on now in the world,” Victoria said. “You’ve got to be careful if you want to go on the train and you get stabbed or you get pushed onto the tracks. Now you got to get worried about getting hit by a car. It’s crazy!”
Victoria found out about the crash when her heartbroken mother called her at work – and she immediately felt a tightness in her chest, she said.
“I was like, ‘No, it’s not real. It’s not real.’ And then I rushed over to be with my mom,” she recalled.
“You feel like you can’t breathe, and it’s like — maybe it’s a bad dream or, you know, maybe she’s not really that hurt. Or maybe she’s in ICU, you know what I mean, worst case scenario at the hospital. I didn’t expect her to … pass away.”
A GoFundMe page is raising money for Santiago’s children and funeral costs. Facebook/Kala SantiagoA GoFundMe page raising money for funeral arrangements and to support her boys remembered the Brooklyn as a “beautiful woman” whose family “was everything to her.”
“When I think of Kala, I think of her smile, her deep laugh, love for all things Anime and her deep connection to her family, particularly her sisters,” said one friend on Facebook.
“In the last two years, Kala entered a new stage in her life, motherhood,” said another. “She loved it and loved her boys. Please help her family lift them up during this very sad time.”
Kala’s grieving sister was left looking back on her their last conversation, via videochat just one day before the tragic crash.
“She was just telling me to take care of myself,” Victoria said. “Like oh, you know, you’re only getting older and you’ve got to take care of yourself and go to the doctor and try not to be stressed.”
“Life is too short, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” she added. “Did I think that this would happen? No. I know it sounds cheesy, but you know, value your time with your family. Appreciate it, because you never know.”





