‘Really wonderful, gentle soul’: community reeling after fatal collision at Ottawa drop-in centre

The executive director of Capital City Mission says she had known the man that was killed in the collision for years. CTV’s Katie Griffin reports.

A man in his 70s is being remembered as a “really wonderful, gentle soul” after he was killed and three other pedestrians were injured by a vehicle that slammed into a Lowertown building Wednesday morning.

The crash happened at the Drop-In at Rideau and Cobourg streets. It offers free meals and coffee to those in need. All of those struck were waiting in line for it to open.

“The gentleman who passed away, I’ve known for many, many, many years, and as horrible as yesterday was, I was grateful to be with him in his last moments and to tell him that I love him and he wasn’t alone,” said Keltie Davidson, the executive director of Capital City Mission which runs the Drop-In.

“He’s just a really wonderful, gentle soul. Very kind and quiet…Many, many days, he would hold the door open for me as I brought chairs out in the morning, or as I brought food bank orders into the building. Somebody that was sort of present and wanting to help, wanting to give back.”

The man has not been publicly identified.

Ottawa Police say the collision remains under investigation with investigators conducting interviews and collision reconstructionist processing evidence.

Two men were sent to hospital in critical condition, and a woman was sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The driver was also treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Firefighters were the first to arrive on the scene within two minutes of the call and started treating patients right away including putting tourniquets on two of them.

“This is a big impact to our community; it’s a big impact to me personally. I’ve been here about 20 years and so a lot of the relationships here are more like family relationships than anything,” Davidson said. “The hardest thing about not actually accessing our building today is just not having a place to physically meet because when tragedy strikes you need community, you need support. And that’s what everyone here is to each other.”

There’s no word on when The Drop-In will be able to get back into the space or if it will have to set up somewhere else.

“It obviously is a loss for the community and I have reached out to them to see how we can help rebuild,” said Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante. “And I saw just this morning that they put a link on their website for anyone who wishes to donate. So, if you have the means to, I encourage you to do so.”

Davidson says she appreciated the support from community members and other organizations.

“I’ve been really grateful for how many community organizations have already reached out to me to offer whatever they can for support. Some in this neighborhood, some in the greater Ottawa area. But people are definitely rallying around us and so we’re really grateful for that.”

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