Woman struck by car on campus

By Brad Whitehouse
Associate News Editor

An unidentified woman was hit by a car on Ryerson campus at the intersection of Church and Gould streets around noon Nov. 9. As the woman crossed the street, she was hit by a car travelling north on Church Street.

“The body was actually flying,” said Svedlana Kostic, who was a passenger in the car directly

behind the car that hit the woman. “It was shocking to see.”

Ryerson student Andrea Senchuk was waiting at the intersection when she heard the impact.

“I heard a really loud, loud noise, and when I looked, pieces of the car were flying and there was this body just lying in the road,” she said.

“It was a pretty scary sound when she got hit. It didn’t sound like a body hitting a car. It sounded like something metallic.”

She called 911 and walked out into the street towards the woman.

“I told her that an ambulance was coming, and her eyes were open but she wasn’t responding. I saw a lot of blood around her head.”

Police weren’t able to identify the woman, since she had no photo ID in her purse. Officer Vlad Hrebenak said the victim “appeared to be homeless and a crack addict.”

The woman was taken to hospital to be treated for “superficial injuries” to her face, said Hrebenak.

“She’s okay,” Hrebenak said. “She just has to go to hospital to get checked out.”

“I’m going to the hospital to see what the extent of her injuries are, but it doesn’t matter because [the driver] is not at fault,” he said.

Hrebenak said witnesses told police the driver, who would not provide his name, had a green light when the pedestrian crossed into traffic.

“She jumped in front of the car,” said the driver, who was visibly shaken by the accident.

“He was driving normally,” Kostic said. “It was a green light. We were right behind him.”

The driver was too shaken to drive home, and had to wait for colleagues to come pick him up.

“How do you expect me to feel?” the driver said. “There is a human being on the ground. I don’t know if she is dead or alive.”

Photo By: Chelsea Pottage