Former colleagues are remembering a Toronto-area tow truck driver for her work ethic after she fell more than 40 metres from a Highway 401 bridge and died late Friday while responding to a call.
“Out there on the highway she wasn’t afraid,” friend Valter Cabral told Global News. “She was good at her job. She knew what she was doing and she learned it fast.”
Police were unable to confirm the victim’s identity but friends and family said the tow truck driver was Melissa Page, who was working alongside her boyfriend.
Cabral was on the scene moments after Page fell.
According to Toronto police, emergency crews were called to the Highway 401 bridge over the Don Valley Golf Course west of Yonge Street just after 10 p.m.
“A woman got out of the tow truck, who was working with the tow truck driver, she tried to cross the jersey rail into the express lane to speak with the driver (of the disabled vehicle) and fell between the rails to her death in the ground below,” Const. Craig Brister said.
READ MORE: ‘I’ve had close calls’: Tow truck drivers raise roadside safety concerns after near misses
Brister said police are treating Friday’s incident as an “unfortunate accident.”
Meanwhile, Page’s former boss Steve Pillay said he was stunned when he heard the news.
“When I found out, I had to pull over my truck for a few minutes … I’m like, ‘Is this real’”
READ MORE: Tow truck operators, police beg drivers to slow down, pull over
“She’s very fantastic to work with – friendly – and I’m going to miss her … it’s a sad way to die,” he said.
Friday’s incident raised questions by friends about whether there should be better signage to warn motorists of the gap.
Global News contacted the Ontario Ministry of Transportation for comment about signs in the area.
A spokesperson described what happened as “an unfortunate tragedy that came from trying to assist another,” but ministry staff do not have plans to install signage.
“While we recognize the good intentions behind the individual’s actions, we always discourage people from exiting their vehicles in live traffic – even to provide assistance,” the spokesperson said in a statement Saturday evening.
“If exiting the vehicle is necessary, the medians should never be crossed.”
Erica Vella contributed to this report