Family who lost father in ‘preventable tragedy’ call for safety barriers on Leaside Bridge

A grieving Toronto family is now fighting to add safety barriers to the Leaside Bridge after their father was killed in what they believe was a preventable tragedy.

It was an earth-shattering Father’s Day that Tali Uditsky and Landon Lusthouse will never forget. Their vibrant 76-year-old father, Harold Lusthouse, was killed on his way to a family brunch.

It happened on the Don Valley Parkway on June 16, 2024, when a man fell from the Leaside bridge and landed on a car Harold was in. The man who fell died instantly, and Harold later died of his injuries in the hospital.

“I was shocked, devastated, angry, and my heart felt like it was going to explode,” said Uditsky. “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.”

After suicide attempts became common on the Bloor Viaduct, the city installed safety barriers in 2003. A report by Sunnybrook Hospital found that in the first decade after they were built, only one person died after finding a way to circumvent the barrier.  

In 2018, the City began reviewing priority bridges and the feasibility of erecting safety barriers, adding emergency phones, signage and security cameras.

Back then, a staff report found that about 10 suicide-related deaths a year were happening at bridges. The study is still ongoing.

“It doesn’t make sense to me why one bridge would be protected and the other wouldn’t be,” said Uditsky. “We have a mental health crisis in this country that cannot be ignored.”

“Had the city shown some care and commitment to preventing these needless tragedies on the Leaside bridge as they did with the Bloor Viaduct two decades ago, my father and others like him would still be alive and here with us today,” added Lusthouse.

According to the recent staff report, the preliminary design work would cost about $500,000, and the bridge may need to be reinforced to construct the barriers.

Motions passed by the committee are calling for an acceleration of the plan and temporary solutions that could happen quickly. 

Currently, “Help” signs are posted on each end of the Leaside Bridge, but the family tells CityNews it’s not enough and that this is something they know their father would have fought for. 

“He was a blood donor, an organ donor. He is the type of person that wouldn’t want to see unnecessary tragedy happen,” said Lusthouse.

Bridges like the one at Leaside were built decades ago without mental health safety in mind, and some councillors believe the province should help upgrade some of the infrastructure.

“We really need to do all we can to accelerate this in any way possible and to also think about what we can do to make our infrastructure modern and safe for everyone,” said Don Valley West councillor Rachel Chernos Lin. “Anything we can do at the city level, we should be trying to do to prevent this.”

The safety barriers will be debated by City Council at its next meeting in May.