By Mike Davey
Toronto, Ontario and Boucherville, Quebec — September 12, 2016 — At least two Canadian towers passed away during the execution of their duties in separate incidents over the weekend.
Stephane Desrosiers was towing a fully-loaded cement truck on Highway 20 in Boucherville, Quebec on Friday. His vehicle clipped a guardrail on the exit for Rte-132 East and flipped onto its side.
Desrosiers was trapped in the cabin during the accident. Emergency responders used the jaws of life to free him from the vehicle. Desrosiers was rushed to the local hospital’s trauma unit in ciritial condition, but succumbed to his injuries several hours later.
Melissa Page of Express Towing accidentally fell to her to death on Friday night after trying to jump across on median on Highway 401. She had stopped to render assistance to a disabled vehicle on Highway 401 between Yonge St. and Avenue Rd. Page was a passenger in the tow truck and worked with the driver.
She tried to hop over the median to reach the vehicle, but instead fell into the gap between the lanes, falling about 45 metres to the Don Valley Golf Course located below the highway.
Steve Pillay is Page’s former boss. “When I found out, I had to pull over my truck for a few minutes … I’m like, ‘Is this real?,’” he said in an interview with Global News. “She’s very fantastic to work with – friendly – and I’m going to miss her … it’s a sad way to die.”
