A peaceful stroll along one of Oakville’s many walking paths – what could possibly go wrong. Although big deals have been made about coyotes, they really haven’t attacked a human on any of our trails. So instead of travelling to war-torn regions of the world where one might face peril, a simple walk along one of our tree-lined paths seems like a pretty safe outing for a couple of seniors to undertake.
However the outing ended in tragedy on Tuesday, August 7 in broad daylight as an out of control kid on a bicycle (and not wearing a helmet) raced along one of the trail paths and plowed right into a 70 year old senior woman who was walking with her friend. Initial reports indicate that she suffered at least 3 cracked ribs, a broken collar bone and a sizeable gash to the head which warranted further investigation by means of a CAT scan.
The boy is still at large and is estimated to be about 12 years old, riding on his own without a helmet BMX style. The police are searching for the boy to question him and his parents further while the senior still lays in the hospital at Oakville Trafalgar. The accident happened on a walking trail near West Oaks Trail Blvd. between Neyagawa and Dorval Drive.
She remains at risk of puncturing a lung and her estimated recover will be at least 2 months. She is fortunate not to have become permanently disabled or worse.
Would better education for our youth in Oakville help prevent such incidents that forever affect the lives of our local residents? Would parental accountability be a factor in this tragedy? Should seniors avoid our walking trails and remain housebound during these lovely summer months? It would be sad to have to limit the use of bikes on walking paths because of the reckless action of a few. There really are no clear answers, only a kid with a shiner who is probably too scared to come forward along with one of our local seniors who is lying in the hospital with the rest of her summer being spent in pain and recovering from this terrible tragedy.
