Dad Who Lost Wife and Son in D.C. Plane Crash Says ‘It Feels Like One Long Day’ (Exclusive)

Vitali Kay, who lost his wife and son in the deadly D.C. plane crash on Jan. 29, says, “It feels like one long day” since the tragedy.

Yulia Kay, 42, and Sean, 11, were attempting to return to their home in Delaware after attending an ice skating camp in Kansas for Sean, who was an aspiring Olympic skater, before a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with their American Airlines flight 5342 as the plane was preparing to land at Reagan National Airport, outside of Washington, D.C.

While speaking to PEOPLE exclusively by phone on Sunday, Feb. 2, Vitali said that he initially didn’t suspect anything was wrong when he didn’t hear from his wife after the flight should have landed, assuming she had just left her phone on airplane mode.

“So I’ll see her in two hours,” Vitali, 42, recalls thinking.

The computer programmer shared that he and Yulia had been married for 20 years, noting they met at university in their home country of Latvia.

“I was not a good student, so I was looking [at] Yulia’s notes and taking my notes from there. […] That was a good time,” Vitali remembers fondly.

Vitali, who tells PEOPLE that his four children have been homeschooled so that they can more effectively pursue their dreams of ice dancing, credits his late wife for his children’s success in the challenging sport.

He added that Yulia — who had a law degree and was a practicing nurse at the time of her death — had a unique combination of skills.

“She could have done many different things. But I think what happened is that all of her skill and training, and preparation from all other seemingly unrelated fields of science, of life, they crystallized in this one sport — because it requires it all,” he explains. “You have to be a project manager to a great degree […] with a passion for care, for compassion, understanding what people want, why they want it. It’s critical.”

“Yeah, [the children] can skate, but the skating itself is just one part of the success. There’s a lot, a lot, a lot of administrative work and someone has to know how to do and do it well. And that’s what Yulia was doing,” he continues.

Vitali also said that Yulia was always ready for what came next in life — a trait that he says she passed down to Sean.

“He was never satisfied with a level of perfection,” Vitali says while discussing his late son, adding that Sean threw himself into his interests and passions, which also included guitar and roller coasters.  

Vitali emphasized that Sean didn’t let fear deter him on the ice, noting that he was never discouraged by falls or injuries. 

He went on to describe both his wife and son as “role models,” adding, “We need more kids like Sean and we need more people like Yulia.”

Vitali said he believes it’s important that he and his other children move forward after this tragedy.

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“I feel it’s very important for all the kids to just to be kids. And everybody continue their life. And yes, there are people who are not with us anymore, but hey, we are here. [There’s] this whole life ahead of us and we need to figure out something and stay strong and continue,” he says.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the Kay siblings continue pursuing their dreams of ice skating. You can contribute to the fund here.