A ‘preventable’ death: vigil for 18-year-old Zachary Laferté-Landry
Posted October 11, 2024 9:43 pm.
Last Updated October 13, 2024 11:59 am.
The young man was fatally struck by a Montreal public transit bus on Tuesday, October 8, in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough at around 4:30 p.m.
But his family doesn’t want this to be the “end of Zachary’s life,” said Mathieu Murphy-Perron, member of Souliers et vélos fantômes Québec. They hope that this can serve as “a call to action for city officials and for motorists to build a city that is friendlier to vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.”
A vigil was held in his honour Friday night — with an overwhelming feeling of sadness for the loss.
Many brought flowers and offered their condolences to the his family. There were people of all ages gathered where the accident happened on Saint Denis near the intersection of Rigaud Street.
Going about his daily life
Laferté-Landry loved hockey and had moved to the city recently from the Magdalen Islands to start school at Cégep du Vieux Montréal.
He had just started a job at the CHUM Hospital, said someone who knew him, but wished to remain anonymous. He was walking towards Sherbrooke metro station after finishing class when his life was cut short.
A ‘preventable’ death
“It’s hard for the loved ones when somebody is ripped away in such a violent manner and in such a preventable manner,” said Murphy-Perron. “We refuse to believe that road collisions are pure accidents… they are a reflection of how we build our cities and how we prioritize our cities.”
“What we do at Ghost Bikes and Ghost Shoes is support the families because we know the grief that they’re going through and so if we can organize an installation, a memorial that helps them grieve, that helps them have a place where they can come together and remember the life that was taken away, that’s our primary objective is just [to stand in solidarity] with the family.”
Murphy-Person said that a ghost shoe memorial will be installed in the coming weeks, a request from the family.
This is the 12th pedestrian killed by a vehicle in Montreal this year, according to the police.
