The mother of Georgia Walsh, the six-and-a-half-year-old girl tragically struck and killed by a minivan near her Leaside home two years ago, says the memory of losing her daughter that fateful July day is “gut wrenching.”
“She did everything right, everything right,” Jillian Walsh told Global News at the site of a memorial for Georgia ahead of the anniversary of her death on Saturday.
“She’d been begging to be more independent, and so I picked her up at the library and she said, ‘Can I walk and you can drive?” And I said yes, because I knew she knew. I knew she knew how to do it and I trusted her.”
READ MORE: Leaside residents demand city address concerns in wake of young girl’s death
Georgia was the daughter of Conservative Party president John Walsh and was struck while was crossing Millwood Road at McRae Drive on July 16, 2014. She was taken to the Hospital For Sick Children where she later died.
“It’s gut wrenching when you see your child lying on the road and they’re not moving and they’re not conscious. It’s the scariest, gut-wrenching feeling that you can possibly imagine,” said Jillian.
“I think what’s been the most helpful for me is you can’t ask yourself why, because you’re never going to get an answer. You’ll never get an answer.
“What I’ve learned to just accept is that the world is not fair. It can be a very cruel place, and bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people and you just need to move forward and you need to find something to channel your pain and your grief, and that’s what’s worked for me.”
WATCH: Georgia Walsh’s mother speaks out ahead of two-year anniversary of girl’s untimely death
Police later charged the driver of the minivan with failing to stop at a red light and careless driving.
“When you get behind the wheel of a car you have a very important job and if you have a lapse in focus or concentration even for a second it can mean the difference between life and death — and it was seconds with Georgia and those seconds mattered,” said Jillian, adding that as difficult as it was, she has learned to forgive the driver who took her daughter’s life.
“I think he will have the burden of the agony of knowing what he has done and that will be his cross to bear. And I know it has been agonizing for him … and hopefully he can move forward in a positive way. I think forgiveness is important. It’s very important.”
Jillian said she has thought about reaching out to the driver personally “so that he can hear those words from me” but does not yet know when she will be ready to do that.
READ MORE: Driver that killed Georgia Walsh charged with careless driving
She said she decided to speak to Global News because she now considers herself an advocate for change, speaking to schools across the region in order to raise awareness and keep children safe on Toronto roads.
“There’s a void, it will never be the same. Any kind of loss like this you’re changed forever, but I do believe that we can take our loss and channel it into positive change to help to ensure that another life like Georgia’s isn’t taken away before their time,” she said.
“And that’s what helps me channel my grief, is knowing that I am making a difference and hopefully we’ve saved some lives because of what we are doing.”
The Distraction Challenge is an initiative spearheaded by Jillian earlier this year, which aims to teach children about distracted drivers and how best to recognize and avoid them.
WATCH: Toronto community creates annual baseball tradition in memory of Georgia Walsh
“We go into schools, and we advocate for children, children being the voice of change and trying to empower them to talk to adults about what’s against the law,” she said, adding that she’d like to see the same stigma associated with drinking and driving applied to distracted driving.
“Driving with a cellphone in your hand is against the law, and when children raise that awareness and tell adults they’re doing something illegal, adults listen. They don’t listen to other adults but they listen to children.”
After Georgia’s death, city hall banned right turns on the red light where she was killed, in addition to increasing the number of crossing guards in the area, but she feels more can be done to keep children like Georgia safe.
READ MORE: Council bans right turn on red light at corner where girl was killed
“I don’t think there can ever be enough until you really see change happening,” she said, adding that friends decorate the intersection where Georgia was killed with flowers every year on the anniversary of her death.
“We also want her memory not just to be about sadness but to be about celebrating community and celebrating people who have rallied around us and supported us.”
For now, Jillian tries to stay positive and keeps fond memories of her daughter close to her heart.
“She was very spirited, and curious, and independent. She loved life, she loved life. And you know just knowing how happy she was skipping home and feeling that sense of, ‘I can do it,’ really encapsulates who she is. That’s who she was,” she said with a smile.
“Many people they might say, ‘Do you feel like you made the wrong decision?’ I don’t. If I could take back time yes I would, but I knew what she was capable of and I knew who she was and she didn’t do anything wrong.
“But she was happy that day, really happy.”
With files from Ashley Molnar, James Armstrong and Niki Anastasakis
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