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Toronto Sun
10-05-2025
- Toronto Sun
Family of senior killed by man falling from Leaside Bridge sues city
The $1.7M lawsuit claims the City of Toronto was negligent for not installing a suicide barrier as was done on the Bloor Viaduct The Leaside Bridge, which spans a section of the Don Valley connecting Leaside to East York, is seen here on Friday, June 28, 2024. Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network The family of a senior citizen killed after a pedestrian fell from the Leaside Bridge and landed on a vehicle he was travelling in along the DVP nearly a year ago is suing the City of Toronto. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The $1.7-million lawsuit, filed last week, reportedly accuses the city of negligence for not installing a suicide barrier along the bridge on Millwood Rd. CTV News Toronto reports a statement of claim filed Tuesday alleges Harold Lusthouse, 76, of Thornhill, was a passenger in the vehicle driving north on the Don Valley Pkwy. – heading to a brunch for Father's Day – when a man walking on the bridge overhead 'jumped or fell to his death' just before noon on June 16, 2024. The man landed on the vehicle 'violently crushing' Lusthouse and causing him to suffer 'catastrophic' injuries, according to the statement of claim. Lusthouse died in hospital two days later – four days before he would have celebrated his 77th birthday. The Leaside Bridge, which spans a section of the Don Valley connecting Leaside to East York, is seen here on Friday, June 28, 2024. Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network The lawsuit – which lists Lusthouse's daughter Tali Uditsky, son Landon, and grandchildren as plaintiffs – claims damages for the emotional and financial impact of Lusthouse's death, including the cost of his funeral and counselling for his family. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. And it alleges the city should have 'known the risks' of failing to install a barrier on the bridge. 'The Defendant, City of Toronto knew or ought to have known, since at least 2003 (if not earlier), that the Leaside Bridge was a common site for falls and/or suicide attempts which it knew or ought to have known rendered the Leaside Bridge unsafe for pedestrians and/or vehicular traffic travelling on the Don Valley Parkway without reasonable safety measures in place,' the statement of claim reportedly alleges. A cyclist on the bike lane along the Bloor Viaduct in Toronto, Ont., on Thursday, May 9, 2019. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network Toronto Police have yet to say if the man jumped or fell to his death, but the incident was not treated as a criminal matter. A spokesperson for the city has reportedly told CTV News Toronto it has received the lawsuit and will respond in 'due course.' But the city offered no further comment as the matter is now before the court. The illuminated Bloor St. viaduct as seen from Bayview Ave in Toronto, Ont., on Thursday, June 25, 2015. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network The Leaside Bridge is about 6.5 km north of the Bloor Viaduct, where a suicide barrier was installed in 2003. The barrier drastically reduced the number of suicides from the Bloor Viaduct, which had previously had a death toll that was second only to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge in North America. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A 2017 study found only one suicide death had occurred from the Bloor Viaduct in the 11 years after the barrier was installed. An average of nine people per year reportedly plunged to their death in the 11 years prior to the barrier's installation. CBC reports police figures show there were 17 suicides or attempted suicides from the Leaside Bridge in 2023, nine in 2024 and none in 2025 as of April 28. Read More Speaking about her dad's death at Toronto's Infrastructure and Environment Committee on April 9, a grief-stricken Uditsky reportedly asked, 'How could this happen?' 'How could drivers and passengers travelling 100 km/h on the Don Valley Parkway – a busy highway – be exposed to this kind of danger?' she wondered. 'My loving dad, who deserved so many more years of life, he was the picture of health,' Uditsky said. 'He was stolen from us, taken away as a result of the failure of the city to protect its citizens.' 'This could have happened to anyone,' she pointed out. The Leaside Bridge, which spans a section of the Don Valley connecting Leaside to East York, is seen here on Friday, June 28, 2024. Photo by Jack Boland / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network City Council ultimately voted in favour of implementing 'immediate safety measures' on the Leaside Bridge. A report on plans for a more permanent design is expected to be delivered at an Infrastructure and Environment Committee meeting on Sept. 26. cdoucette@ @sundoucette Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto Maple Leafs Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA
Hamilton Spectator
10-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Family sues city over lack of suicide barriers on Leaside Bridge after dad killed by falling man
The family of a man who died last June after the vehicle he was in was struck by a person jumping from the Leaside Bridge is suing the city for failing to put up suicide barriers. Four days short of his 77th birthday, Harold Lusthouse had been a passenger in a car on the Don Valley Parkway, with his wife behind the wheel. They had been headed to a Father's Day brunch. That's when a man crashed onto their car from above, 'violently crushing Harold,' the lawsuit says. The father of two sustained 'catastrophic personal injuries' and was hospitalized for a few days to undergo surgery. Lusthouse 'endured great pain and suffering as well as profound physical and emotional shock' before he died a couple of days later. The man who had crashed onto the car also died. Lusthouse's daughter, Tali Uditsky, 50, and son, Landon Lusthouse, 46, are seeking at least $1.7 million — plus legal costs if the case goes to trial. Lusthouse's grandchildren, ages 18 and 20, are also part of the suit. The view of the Don Valley Parkway from the Leaside Bridge, which carries Millwood Road. The family has 'suffered and will continue to suffer from nervous and emotional shock, mental anguish, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression,' said a statement of claim filed Tuesday. It noted the family has run up significant expenses, including funeral costs, psychiatric counselling, medical, rehabilitative and 'other out-of-pocket expenses.' Initial reports said the man on the bridge jumped, according to police notes obtained by the Star from the day of the incident. The police service has not definitively confirmed that it was a suicide, but has previously told the Star the case is not criminal. According to the claim, the city 'failed to consider and/or take steps to install a barrier at the Leaside Bridge for decades' despite installing a barrier at the Bloor Viaduct in 2003. Studies have shown these barriers are an effective deterrence. A city spokesperson said Thursday the municipality will respond to the lawsuit 'in due course,' but currently had 'no further comment as the matter is before the court.' The claim's allegations have not been tested in court. The Bloor Viaduct was once second in North America, only to the Golden Gate Bridge, in the number of suicides it saw each year. Its barrier has since saved dozens of lives, with suicides falling from 48 in the five years before the barrier to just two in the subsequent 17 years. The city 'recklessly and carelessly' failed to do the same on the Leaside Bridge, the claim alleges. The lawsuit argues the city has addressed safety risks with bridges in Toronto in a 'haphazard and reckless manner.' Council voted Thursday to have senior city officials to negotiate a contract 'on a non-competitive basis' for the barrier's design. Council voted Thursday to have senior city officials to negotiate a contract 'on a non-competitive basis' for the barrier's design. Prior to the lawsuit being filed, the city told the Star that it works with Toronto Public Health, distress centres, police and Sunnybrook Hospital to identify 'priority bridge locations' using several factors, including the number of deaths by suicide, suicide attempts at each location and whether the bridge crosses a roadway or a pedestrian trail. The number of suicides at Leaside Bridge reached nine as recently as 2022, similar to the Bloor Viaduct before its barrier went up, according to police data obtained by the Star. As of last year, the police service continued to field numerous calls each year near the bridge about a 'person in crisis,' but not all of which resulted in suicide. The claim argues the city should have known the Leaside Bridge is a 'high-risk' location and poses a safety risk to highway drivers below. In 2018, the city's chief medical officer of health warned council of the dangers of high-risk bridges and to install barriers. That same year, the city began reviewing the feasibility of barriers as part of its state-of-good-repair, decade-long bridge rehabilitation project. But city staff told council last month that Leaside was not a part of that program. Though the city has since identified the Leaside Bridge as another 'high-risk location for suicide,' it was a councillor's motion last year following Lusthouse's death that sparked the move to fast-track a barrier to the bridge. The family's lawsuit claims the city hired 'incompetent employees, servants and/or agents' to monitor, inspect and maintain the bridge, but also failed to 'properly train' its staff to carry out these duties, including 'record-keeping' of the bridge. Last month, Uditsky and Landon made an emotional plea to council's executive committee to install safety barriers on the bridge — and do it fast. Council voted in late April to do just that . While it's a step in the right direction, council's decision doesn't bring back Lusthouse, said the family's lawyer Stephen Birman, who practises in personal injury law at Thomson Rogers LLP. Tali Uditsky and Landon Lusthouse, the children of Harold Lusthouse, gave an emotional presentation about the death of their father at city hall on April 9. The 76-year-old was killed when a person fell from the Leaside Bridge last year, landing on his car. 'A family's life is never the same after something like this happens,' Birman told the Star in an interview. 'But above and beyond that, this is an issue about public safety and how a municipality should respond to known dangers or hazards in the community,' he continued. Prior to the lawsuit, city staff told the Star it was not involved in the decision-making processes of more than 20 years ago regarding the Bloor Viaduct, and why Leaside didn't get one much sooner, so they are 'not in a position to comment on historical actions by the city.' Birman said that the city can't provide answers is another reason this lawsuit is important. 'To ensure that something like this doesn't fall between the cracks,' he said. 'Other major cities in Canada, like Montreal, Edmonton, Halifax and Vancouver, did act long ago. My clients want to know why Toronto didn't.' If you are thinking of suicide or know someone who is, there is help. Resources are available online at or . You can also connect 24 hours a day to the national Suicide Crisis Helpline at 9-8-8 (text or call), the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868 or Toronto Distress Centres at 416-408-4357. The 24/7 Toronto Community Crisis Service is also now providing support citywide and can be reached by calling 2-1-1.
