P.E.I. actor Aaron Hastelow said Monday’s tragedy in Toronto has shaken him up.
Hastelow, who will play the lead role in this summer’s production of “Jesus Christ Superstar’’ at the Confederation Centre of the Arts, said he was lucky and wasn’t in downtown Toronto when a young man drove a van into a crowd of pedestrians along a stretch of one of Toronto’s busiest streets.
However, two of his friends witnessed the tragedy and narrowly missed being victims.
“I had two friends who were in the Starbucks on the corner and the van actually went through the patio of the Starbucks. They said if the lineup (at Starbucks) had literally been a few people longer they would have been standing where the van was,’’ Hastelow said.
“Another friend was just five minutes down the street and the reason why she wasn’t standing (in the path of the van) was because her taco truck didn’t have anything she wanted so she left. It’s one of those things where it could have been anyone, absolutely anyone."
"I’m so grateful that my friends had those extra minutes but, for so many others, it's not the same story and it’s just so tragic.’’
As of press time on Tuesday, the death toll in the tragedy had reached 10 people.
Hastelow said the incident has shaken up the city. His mother on P.E.I. texted him 10 minutes after news reports broke, wondering if her son was OK, saying, “I’m so glad you answered immediately.’’
“Everybody I was with at the time just got on their phones to make sure everybody was OK and if they knew (what had happened). It’s a complete shock to the system.’’
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Darrell Glenn, the head coach of the UPEI men’s basketball team, grew up in Toronto and spent much of the past 20 years teaching close to the area where the incident happened.
“I’m sickened by what happened,’’ Glenn said. “That’s my hometown where I was born and raised and I have a lot of family and friends and former students who live in the city. It really kind of hit home for me. I had friends communicating with me all day saying, ‘Hey, did you hear what happened?’.’’
Glenn said he’s been in touch with a number of people who live or work in the area where the incident happened and everyone is OK.
“I’m really saddened to see and hear about what happened. Any time people lose their life senselessly it’s always a sad thing but when it’s something that’s pretty close to you it hits home even more.’’
Both Hastelow and Glenn wanted to express their condolences to all those affected.
“I’m counting my blessings. I feel for so many people who have lost people and for the witnesses. It’s horrifying,’’ Hastelow said.
