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Métis environmentalist Micah Messent was among the 157 people who died in an Ethiopian Airlines jet crash on Sunday, March 10.
Shortly after take-off, 149 passengers and eight crew members on flight ET302, traveling from Addis Ababa to Nairobi in Kenya, died when the plane crashed near Bishoftu, south of Addis Ababa.
The young man from Courtenay on Vancouver Island was on his way to the United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya, and was one of the 18 Canadians killed. He posted an excited announcement about the trip on Instagram a day before the crash.
“I’m headed to Kenya TOMORROW where I’ll have the chance to meet with other passionate youth and leaders from around the world and explore how we can tackle the biggest challenges that are facing our generation. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and want to thank all of the people in my life who have helped me get this far. Wish me luck!” Messent wrote.
The First Nations Leadership Council said Messent was a member of the Red River Métis Nation in Manitoba.
After finishing high school in 2013, Messent enrolled in Indigenous studies at Vancouver Island University (VIU) in Nanaimo, B.C., with a focus on ocean geography and went on to work for B.C. Parks as an Indigenous Relations Analyst after graduating in 2018.