The woman who died alongside All Black great Jerry Collins in a horror crash that left their baby daughter fighting for her life never planned to be a mum.
Alana Madill's life changed when she met Collins about 18 months ago and fell "madly, madly in love", a close friend told the Herald on Sunday.
Four months ago the couple became the parents of daughter Ayla, and the baby was the light of Madill's life, friend Jess Hartwell said.
Hartwell lives 1,800km from Grande Prairie, the small Alberta city Madill called home until moving to France with Collins in January. The women had maintained their friendship.
Madill often expressed her joy at becoming a mother in her mid-30s, Hartwell said. "There was something very special about Alana's love for her. She just beamed when she talked about her ... she loved being a mother.
"She talked to me about how she never really planned on having kids, but when she became pregnant, she was so in love with Jerry and they were so connected that she just felt it was so right for her.
Alana Madill with daughter Ayla.
"I spoke with her about a week ago, and she just told me how madly, madly in love she was and how she was so happy that she'd had finally found somebody who she felt really accepted her for her. You could just tell how in love they were ... "
Ayla was born in Canada in January and the trio often travelled to visit family and as part of Collins' rugby commitments.
It was a turnaround in fortunes for Collins, who had struggled after his All Black career ended in 2008.
He played in Wales and Japan, where he was arrested in 2013. He had been found carrying two knives in a department store.
Hartwell last spoke to Madill a couple of days before the tragedy.
"She said she was a little nervous about going [to France] and sad that she would miss her family."
"She was the type of person that you would never forget having met, even one time," Hartwell said. "She was so radiant and so kind. She would give the shirt off her back to anyone she met.
"She was a very special person."
In a statement to their hometown newspaper The Regina Leader-Post, Madill family members said they were focusing their energy on Ayla.
Long-time family friend Bree Cannon told the newspaper that Madill was always searching for the next adventure but since meeting Collins and having Ayla, "she seemed really content and complete".
