'Xavier's Way': Grandfather of 5-year-old boy killed while cycling hopes city honours his memory
The man who raised Xavier Morgan, the five-year-old boy who was struck and killed in Toronto after falling off his bicycle last week, said he hopes the city honours his memory.
Scott Morgan was riding behind Xavier when the young cyclist lost control of his bike on May 24. The pair were travelling along the Martin Goodman Trail by Lake Shore Boulevard, just west of Jameson Avenue when, according to Morgan, it seemed like "the wind hit him."
Morgan said he watched as Xavier — an experienced rider — turned his wheel suddenly and fell. Then the boy, with a mop of dark hair, gave his grandfather a look that Morgan took to mean, 'I'm okay.'
That's when a car hit Xavier, killing him instantly.
"He died without pain," Morgan said. "He didn't see it coming."
Speaking to the media at a group bike ride in honour of Xavier on Saturday, Morgan said his grandson was a "happy kid" and budding artist.
He praised the city's plan to put up fencing along the section of trail where Xavier was killed — but also hopes for something special in his honour.
"I hope they name it after him, that little stretch," he said. "Something like 'Xavier's Way'... just to remember him."
There's no word yet if the city is considering such a gesture, but the fencing plan is already in motion.
Solution 'long overdue'
Temporary fencing is now up the area, and in a statement released on Friday, Coun. Jaye Robinson, chair of the city's Public Works Committee, said it will provide added security for both cyclists and pedestrians.
But some say it's too little, too late.
"It was a known deficiency in the trail system," said Joey Schwartz of Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists, the group behind Saturday's memorial ride.
"Unfortunately, like several others deaths that occurred... it took [a death] before the city actually acted."
Morgan himself knows other cyclists who've fallen in the area.
"I'm looking forward to the solution... it's long overdue," he said.
