‘He was the biggest empath’: Memorial for Montreal cyclist, who died in 2012

This white bicycle is covered in messages to Tyrell Sterling. The custom made bike was presented to Sophia Sterling, Tyrell’s mother, by friends and students of Westmount High School at a vigil in September of 2012. The 18-year-old’s life was cut short after being struck by a turning truck near the intersection of Saint-Pierre Avenue and Notre Dame West in Lachine.

Sophia Sterling held onto this bike for a dozen years, until it was installed as a memorial where the accident took place.

Another cyclist died at an intersection nearby by a turning truck almost a decade later in 2021.

Montreal police say that 12 cyclists and pedestrians have been killed by vehicles so far in 2024. Last year, 73 people died across the province according to Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) data.

A raw wound

Organizers of the event were protective of the Sterling family. Mathieu Murphy-Perron of the non-profit organization Souliers et vélos fantômes Québec (SVFQ) said that the family had been “traumatized” by victim-blaming media coverage of Tyrell’s death in 2012, which had focused on Sterling’s fixed-gear bicycle.

“Twelve years ago I lost my son right here,” said Sophia Sterling, addressing the crowd of about fifty people. “I’m hoping that the city will do something about the infrastructure so another family doesn’t have to lose someone and go through what we’ve been through.”

“Thank you so much for coming and showing support,” she said, “I appreciate each and every one of you.”

Orange, his favorite colour

The foliage hadn’t taken on its autumn colours on the warm fall day, yet there was a sea of orange.

“He wore orange a lot [and made] funny videos… he called them Orange Hat Productions,” recalled friend Jeremy Andrews, who met Sterling in elementary school. “He was absolutely hilarious.”

“Tyrell was a pillar in a community, a rock, he was definitely one of those guys,” Andrews said.

“[Tyrell] always had a smile, always caring,” said Alexander Kerr-Bates. “You know, if he ever saw you with your head down, he’d always have the perfect thing to say to you.”

“And that’s who he was,” he added. “He was the biggest empath.”

29th Ghost Bike installed

The white bicycles are known as ghost bikes and commemorate cyclists who were killed or hit in road accidents. It was installed by SVFQ, which offers support to victims’ families and maintains the memorials.  

“As you can see, this is still very tragic and very sad for the family,” said Sophie Lavoie, SVFQ spokesperson.

“We advocate for a change on Avenue Saint Pierre and Notre Dame Avenue because it’s been more than 10 years and this is the second memorial we installed practically at the same intersection.”

Fifty-two year old Joanna Barcessat, lost her life in 2021 after a similar collision. 

It’s an area where federal, provincial and municipal jurisdictions overlap.

Lachine borough Mayor Maja Vodanovic said that a re-design of the intersection, where is falls under the responsibility of the city, is in the works and she estimates that the project will be completed by the summer of 2025.

“Huge infrastructure change needs to be done,” said Vodanovic. “In the meantime, as we wait for the MTQ to change it, we said where we will do temporary measures in here and especially on this exit because this is a company’s exit for trucks, huge trucks that come out here.”

“There is going to be an elevated sidewalk that’s going to be very large for pedestrians and bikes,” she added. “And it will oblige the truck to stop.”

In a phone call with CityNews, a spokesperson for Quebec’s Transport Ministry said:

“The Saint-Pierre interchange is at the planning stage for a renovation and that the policy on bikes will be adhered to.” 

Quebec’s Transport Ministry

They were not able to provide a specific timeline.