Toronto Bystanders Give First Aid CPR to Yonge St. Tragedy Victims

On April 23, a monster driving a van jumped the curb on Toronto’s Yonge Street, leaving a trail of 10 dead and 16 injured people. It was a deliberate and incomprehensible act that sent bystanders into quick action to provide CPR and first aid and provide help where needed.

Media interviewed many of the amazing bystanders who spoke of how they assisted their fellow human beings. The Toronto Star’s report highlighted the following acts of humanity.

Aras Reisn, who lives near the scene, said a family member told him someone had been hit in front of their condo.

“I looked through the window and I saw someone just collapse,” Reisn said. “Granted, I have first aid training, so the first thing I did was put on my gloves and rushed out of the door to offer help.”

He said he only noticed that other people had been injured while attending to the man hit in front of his home.

“I’m asking Canadians to please get first aid training – you never know when you will need it,” Reisn said. “The more people we have, the better and very likely you will be helping a member your own community and your own family and friends.”

Henry Yang, who was making a U-turn on Yonge Street to head south, said he noticed a white van in front of him driving on the sidewalk, hitting mail boxes, news stands and bus stop signs.

“I realized then that something is wrong,” he said, adding that the van didn’t slow down and hit a pedestrian right after.

Yang said the van then veered into incoming cars heading north and hit a pedestrian crossing the street before it veered back into the southbound lanes.

“I kept on following him and I kept honking my horn non-stop and trying to make a commotion so pedestrians would know that something was going on,” he said.

“I seen people being run over, thrown in the air … it’s very tragic.”

A makeshift memorial has been set up along Yonge Street where residents have been leaving flowers and candles and writing messages of support and condolence on large cardboard squares.

A Muslim-Canadian non-profit group called DawaNet, which helped raise more than $800,000 for the victims and their families of last year’s mosque shooting in Quebec, has launched a GoFundMe page for the victims of the Toronto incident. It had raised more than $9,000 by early Tuesday.

 

 

Our sincere and heartfelt condolences to the victims, families and friends who were affected by this senseless tragedy. Our hearts and minds cry for you.

 

What is happening to our world? Canadians are resilient, caring and strong. We come together to help each other and will not let this senseless act defeat us. We would like to thank all those who reacted quickly in the name of humanity and continue to encourage everyone to become first aid trained. This is just one of many ways that we can help each other in a time of need.   #Torontostrong.

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SOS First Aid and Safety Training services the following Southern Ontario communities: Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Guelph, Vaughan, Woodbridge, Maple, Richmond Hill, Brampton, Acton, Georgetown, Hamilton, Ancaster, Brantford, Stoney Creek, St. Catherines, and Welland.

Customer Reviews

suzyan kunwar
suzyan kunwar
Had a great experience, instructor patty was very helpful.
8sujata kunwar
8sujata kunwar
Thank you Patrick for your wonderful instruction
LE NGUYEN
LE NGUYEN
Minakshi Subba
Minakshi Subba
Had amazing experience with Patty! She taught us so well and I learnt so much while practicing cpr and first aid.
Sanpreet Kaur
Sanpreet Kaur
Patty was a great instructor and extremely knowledgeable Was great with instructions and communication. Fun and a great experience.
Susie Riggs
Susie Riggs
I did the BLS course with Patty, and she was a very good teacher!
Nicole Freeman
Nicole Freeman
Our instructor was really good, he truly cared! It was a recertification, and I have to say that I learnt a lot this time. He went above and beyond. I feel more secure and knowledgeable when responding to an emergency. Thank you!
Marilyn A M
Marilyn A M
Ally was an amazing teacher trainer. Felt safe heared and very informative. would highly recommend.
jac hal
jac hal
Bidisha Dey
Bidisha Dey
Eun Hye Pedralvez
Eun Hye Pedralvez
Prakash was a great instructor! Made the class very engaging and explained things well
Sandy Kdeiss
Sandy Kdeiss
Sarah Almeida
Sarah Almeida
Mr. Nagar was amazing! Very helpful!
Alicha Desmond
Alicha Desmond
G KAUR
G KAUR
Great information and indepth knowledge of epinephrine and the placement and new technologies. Thank you Prakash!
Thaksha Kulenthiran
Thaksha Kulenthiran
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Alpana Vora
Alpana Vora
Ally was an amazing informative teacher! i love her teaching style and she was great at answering questions and chatting in an informative way!
Sofie Z
Sofie Z
The training was interesting and educativeI enjoyed it
Oluwatosin Enitan
Oluwatosin Enitan
Daniel was excellent!!
Alaa Dimitri
Alaa Dimitri
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Suhad Sa'doun
Suhad Sa'doun
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Kimberly Palmer
Kimberly Palmer
Jasen Devasagayam
Jasen Devasagayam
Great instructor
AsianDomination104
AsianDomination104
Great experience.Mario gave clear and detailed instructions that were easy to follow and remember. He was very professional and gave so much input than I expected. Would highly recommend!
Shiela Mae Arca
Shiela Mae Arca
Laziz Eibov
Laziz Eibov
Great instructor Mario! Thank you :)
Leila Yohannes
Leila Yohannes
Nanzala Anna
Nanzala Anna
Was a lot of fun while also providing the education and performance testing needed!! Mario was great!!
Hai Psycho
Hai Psycho
Mario is very knowledgeable. Mask fit testing went smoothly.
Kathryn Lantican
Kathryn Lantican
olubunmi olaoye
olubunmi olaoye
Mario was a great instructor. Thoroughly explained and provided a great learning experience!
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Simran Sandhu
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Gurkirat Kaur Grewal
Gurkirat Kaur Grewal
WANG RUXIN
WANG RUXIN
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Marlene Cromwell
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ese Dukuye
ese Dukuye
Daniel was great!! Everything was explained so well that I manage to score hundred percent
Zarah Ali
Zarah Ali
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Alieh Ramezani
Alieh Ramezani
Chirag Rangani
Chirag Rangani
The mask fit training was very informative and beneficial. I had a fun time attending the class and I feel confident in correctly fitting my mask for safety.
Acemark Pellos
Acemark Pellos
Zhanming Chang
Zhanming Chang
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Aline Chusl Fotso
Keirol Mallari
Keirol Mallari
Dawa Sherpa
Dawa Sherpa
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Marsi Siobal
Marsi Siobal
It’s very good session…
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sagar amin
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sonu3115
sonu3115
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Amandeep kaur
Amandeep kaur
Mario is very helpful and accommodating.
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gurwinder dhanda
very quick and friendly instructor!
Von Immanuel Yagong
Von Immanuel Yagong
Barkat Khalid
Barkat Khalid
Huang Yang
Huang Yang
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Robert Rebelo
Robert Rebelo
GC Tobino
GC Tobino
Zantrav Motovin
Zantrav Motovin
genevieve gelinas
genevieve gelinas
I learnt a lot especially what to do when someone has got a snake bite.
Chidimma Onwughalu
Chidimma Onwughalu
Ally and Doug were great at explaining and teaching. They made the class fun and easy to understand. Loved it!
Samra s
Samra s
Navdeep Kaur
Navdeep Kaur
Wen Fan (Yvonne)
Wen Fan (Yvonne)
Went here three times already and I can confidently say that they deliver the most effective lesson for N95 certification. I had Mario as my lecturer and he was able to simplify and highlight important details on the use of N95's. Highly recommend
xkristiann (xkristiann)
xkristiann (xkristiann)
Excellent instructor
Manpy Sehmi
Manpy Sehmi
Araba Wood
Araba Wood
Marian De Villa
Marian De Villa
It was a splendid experience and very educative.
Kayla Asante
Kayla Asante
Great Mask-Fit session with Mario
Mel B
Mel B
Session was really informative and interactive. Mario has good humour and makes the session lively.
Polina Loukianenkova
Polina Loukianenkova
Mario was great. The session was informative and mario made it entertaining and enjoyable.
Ed de Vries
Ed de Vries
Jennifer Nana Arku-Entsie
Jennifer Nana Arku-Entsie
Great and engaging!!
Chidera Eleh
Chidera Eleh
Ally was absolutely the sweetest, most informative and great teacher, I have ever had. To have her patiently answer questions, while also providing real life examples that make it all better to understand! So smart! Loved it!
Leo Andruchovici
Leo Andruchovici
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Mario is very friendly and approachable. Learned a lot from him. Never a dull moment during our lesson for N95. Good job!
Derlin Baywas
Derlin Baywas
Jasmeet Dulay
Jasmeet Dulay
A fun session
Shivangi Aatli
Shivangi Aatli
Quick and informative
Jahleen Reid
Jahleen Reid
Lima Siddiqi
Lima Siddiqi
It was very informative and Mario was a good instructor.
Witney Akowuah
Witney Akowuah
Very informative session!
Chelle Rubio
Chelle Rubio
Victoria Cuthbert
Victoria Cuthbert
For something I was dreading spending money on and doing, I actually ended up wanting more of and am looking forward to another opportunity to take more classes with SOS! Learning from Ally has been both enjoyable and inspiring. My classmates and I spent our break time discussing the material we learned and also how impressed we were with the content and delivery. We had all done the CPR and First Aide courses in the past, but all agreed this course was a game changer! We couldn’t thank Ally enough!
Jenna Bernard
Jenna Bernard
Ezinma Kingsley
Ezinma Kingsley
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Sarah Byrne
Sarah Byrne
hyun been seo
hyun been seo
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Arsany Maged
Arsany Maged
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Ronak K
Ronak K
Marlon Murray
Marlon Murray
Learned how to provide the first aid.
Aiden Muliett
Aiden Muliett
Very good classAlly made it very fun
Justin Mancini
Justin Mancini
Peter Ayoub
Peter Ayoub
Prakash was very enjoyable approachable fun and supportive. He was very empathetic in his teaching and instruction and corrections. I had a very enjoyable and supportive experience with him in the classroom
joan rupram
joan rupram
I really enjoyed every time I spent throughout .
alonge segun
alonge segun
I did my first aid training for the first time and Karen was fun and so knowledgeable. Would do the training with them again for sure!!
Puneet Khangura
Puneet Khangura
Surprised that we weren’t bored out of our minds when we took the course
the filipinaa
the filipinaa
Our instructor Karen was amazing. Very knowledgeable. Highly recommended
Radesia Campbell
Radesia Campbell
Karen Parker is funny and smart and one of the best instructors I’ve came across ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Silvester Nirmal
Silvester Nirmal
P Style
P Style
john modafferi
john modafferi
My name is janeka walsh and I wanted to say Ms viola is the besttt instructor ever !! Nice sweet and patient teacher ! I’m going to miss her
Tiffany Smith
Tiffany Smith

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