Brayden Jensen-Knox takes the same route to the bus stop every day. But on Tuesday, he slipped and fell.
“He got up and went to school. He was walking with a parent down to the bus stop, and they only got down to the corner and he just wiped right out, just like that. He got up, his face was bloody, big egg developing on his head,” said Tina Jensen, Brayden’s grandmother.
READ MORE: Icy sidewalks prompt complaints, councillor to reopen debate on clearing snow
Despite the fall, Brayden seems to be alright. He spent the day at home with his mother under concussion watch.
Brayden walks down Foley Court with a parent every morning to get to the bus stop that takes him to Bayview Elementary School on Saint John’s east side. Jensen says the street is often covered in snow and ice, forcing pedestrians onto the road, which frequently sports its own layer of ice.
“Right now, they’re snow-covered and underneath the snow, there would be ice so it’s either him crawling on the crunchy ice, causing more damage there or falling on the ice. It’s a rock and a hard spot kind of thing,” she said.
WATCH: Sidewalks slippery in Moncton following snow, flash freeze
City spokesperson Lisa Caissie wrote in an email that Foley Court is not covered under the city’s Winter Management Plan.
“In accordance with the Winter Management Plan adopted by Common Council in 2009, the city services approximately 240 kilometres, or 61 per cent, of public sidewalks during the winter months. Maintenance operations include snow clearing for pedestrian passage and the application of salt or sand,” she wrote.
“The sidewalks in Foley Court are not identified in the Winter Management Plan as being serviced during the winter months.”
READ MORE: Rain and freeze makes for a slippery commute for pedestrians in Halifax
All of this spells frustration for Jensen, who says the number of kids living in the neighbourhood should necessitate regular snow servicing.
“That’s what we pay property tax for, isn’t it?” she asked.
Jensen says she shared photos of Brayden’s bruised face with Mayor Don Darling, who said he’d bring up the incident at a meeting of Common Council.
But Jensen is worried something terrible will have to happen before anything changes.
“You know, something, somebody has to be really hurt for anything to change,” she said.