Private Kevin Thomas McKay, 24, was only a few days away from finishing his tour in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device took his life as he was on foot patrol near a village in the country’s Panjway district. A member of Edmonton-based 1st Batallion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, McKay, known to his friends as “Mickey,” is the 144th Canadian soldier to die in the Afghan mission. He was “the type of soldier that Canadians must picture when they think of their army in Afghanistan: the tough, courageous infantryman, living in austere conditions and doing remarkably difficult work,” said Colonel Simon Hetherington, Deputy Commander of Task Force Kandahar. “On behalf of all soldiers, sailors, airmen and airwomen and special operators of Joint Task Force Afghanistan, I offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends of our fallen comrade,” he added.