Daughter of Saint-Laurent mall crash victim calls for compassion online

The daughter of a man struck and killed in a parking lot is speaking out about the reaction on social media blaming her father.

The daughter of a man who was fatally struck by a vehicle in a Saint-Laurent mall parking lot says she decided to speak out after seeing online reactions she felt lacked compassion following the tragedy.

Last week, 89-year-old George Spanakis had just finished loading groceries into his trunk when he and his 97-year-old friend were hit by a car in the parking lot of the Place Vertu shopping centre on Côte-Vertu Boulevard.

Spanakis died of his injuries at the Montreal Sacred Heart Hospital on the evening of April 19.

“He was the best dad ever,” his daughter Maria Spanakis said in a recent interview.

Montreal police (SPVM) said that their investigation concluded there was no evidence of any criminal element in the collision. According to the police, the driver, a man in his 60s, made a wrong move while reversing, striking the two seniors.

Maria said Spanakis immigrated from Greece in 1963. He later got married and started a family.

“He was a man from a different time and a different era, but he was ahead of his time and ahead of his era, and he was so loved,” she said, adding that he was a proud mechanic.

She described him as a kind and compassionate man who always tried to make people laugh and was always willing to help.

“The only advice my dad ever gave me in life was, ‘Don’t be a victim.’ And he would try to instil that in everybody else.”

According to authorities, the 97-year-old woman who was also injured during the collision is out of danger. But Maria said that she has a long recovery ahead, with rehab and physiotherapy.

“My dad didn’t know what happened because he was hit from behind,” she said. “His lady friend was also hurt but they were there together, and they were able to hold hands, so my dad knew he wasn’t alone.”

Spanakis was president of the Greek Seniors Association in the West Island for about 10 years.

“He really wanted to try and keep the community together and keep the elderly community active and engaged,” she explained.

Before his death, Spanakis lived independently in a seniors’ residence in the Saint-Laurent borough.

After being rushed to the hospital, Spanakis underwent surgery, but the trauma was too severe. His organs began to shut down.

“We let nature decide, and eventually his heart stopped, and he stopped breathing, but not before he opened his eye and I got to say goodbye,” Maria said holding back tears.

Maria’s heartache only deepened after seeing online posts about the accident – some of which wrongly assumed that the seniors had been driving.

“I just felt it was devoid and empty and only sensationalizing the event without any humanity associated to it,” she said.

“I think we need to do better. We have to remind ourselves there are human beings who are grieving and suffering at the other end of those mean-spirited comments.”

The SPVM said the file was transferred to the prosecutor to analyze the circumstances of the collision and provide recommendations on how to prevent similar incidents.

With files from Laurence Brisson Dubreuil