LAVAL — Two white balloons floated into the sky on Thursday, as a community north of Montreal gathered to remember two young children who were killed exactly a year earlier when a bus smashed through the front of a Montreal-area daycare.
Daycare workers and families assembled in a park near the Garderie Éducative Ste-Rose in Laval, which became the site of the tragedy when a city bus made a sharp right turn off the street and roared down the daycare's driveway during the busy morning drop-off period.
Families carried white flowers and hugged one another during the short ceremony, which also included a moment of silence. Sobbing could be heard as the balloons drifted into the blue sky and out of sight, after being released by two of the daycare's workers.
André Beaudoin, a father of two who helped pull children from under the bus the morning of the crash, said seeing the victims' families helps with the grieving process.
He said he still remembers raising his head and seeing the bus roll past him in the parking lot as he was unbuckling his son's seatbelt on Feb. 8, 2023.
"I heard the bus motor, I lifted my head and saw the bus pass in front of me," he said. "You never imagine something like that happening."
Beaudoin recalled leaving his son safely in the car and racing inside the daycare. There, he tried to get the children out from under the bus safely, he said, while another father helped subdue the agitated bus driver.
Five-year-old Maëva David and four-year-old Jacob Gauthier died in the crash, while six other children were sent to hospital.
"It was the hardest day of my life, and it’s always going to stay in your head," Beaudoin said, adding that he's trying to stay positive.
Former city bus driver Pierre Ny St-Amand is charged with two counts of first-degree murder as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault. A preliminary hearing is set for March, and Ny St-Amand's lawyer has said he plans to argue the 52-year-old did not have the necessary criminal intent for first-degree murder.
Investigators have not yet revealed a motive for the alleged act. Ny St-Amand had no disciplinary problems at his job and no criminal record.
Beaudoin said he's trying to come full circle on the events, "but it’s not completed yet, because there’s lots of things we don’t know."
On Thursday, the outdoor ceremony was preceded by a private indoor event that was attended by daycare parents and loved ones of the victims. Beaudoin and others who helped at the scene were also given awards for bravery.
Christopher Skeete, the legislature member for the region, said the crash has marked Quebecers, especially parents.
"Everybody thinks that when they drop off their kid at the daycare, they're going to be there when they come home," he said. "That didn't happen a year ago." He said the idea of releasing balloons came from the daycare, as a way of symbolizing the loss of the two children.
In Quebec City, Premier François Legault said he was thinking of the parents, the daycare workers and the first responders who were affected by the tragedy. "I think there's nothing worse for parents than to lose a child, especially the way it happened," he said.
The daycare asked that people not leave flowers or stuffed animals outside the building but rather make a donation to the foundations of hospitals that treated victims, Cité de la Santé in Laval and Ste-Justine children's hospital in Montreal.
The daycare owner, Nancy Gschwender, did not speak publicly but released a statement expressing thanks for the support she and her team have received.
"We continue our journey despite these difficult moments, while continuing to make the light of our little butterflies, who we will never forget, shine," she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2024.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
