An 80-year-old woman who loved the Toronto Blue Jays, a steakhouse chef, and a single mother from Sri Lanka were among the 10 people who died last year, after Alek Minassian allegedly swerved a rental van onto a busy Yonge Street sidewalk and began mowing down pedestrians on the afternoon of April 23, 2018.
The full list of victims included eight women and two men whose ages spanned between 22 and 94 years old. Two of the victims were foreign nationals. At the time, 16 people had been injured in the attack.
The City of Toronto went on to raise $4 million as part of its a #TorontoStrong Fund for 41 victims and families of the van attack and the Danforth shooting. It went towards covering emergency expenses for those impacted, which also included witnesses and their families.
Approximately $214,000 of this was collected by Muslim-Canadian non-profit organization Canada Zakat, the group’s project manager Junaid Sohail wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca.
Several vigils and memorials have taken place in the wake of the attack.
Now, more than a year later, here’s what CTVNews.ca learned about those who died:
---
Anne Marie D’Amico
D’Amico, 30, worked at the Canadian headquarters for the U.S.-based investment management firm Invesco on Yonge Street, and was actively involved in sports and charity.
Since the attacks, her family launched a foundation in her name “in support of ending violence against women,” her brother Nick D’Amico told CP24 on Dec. 3, on what would have been Anne Marie’s 31st birthday.
“She was the face of the tragedy for so many hours,” her brother added. “Now she can be the face of hope for so many women across the world and throughout the country.”
Last year, money from the foundation went towards North York Women’s Shelter to help raise money for a facility for survivors of violence.
She was voted Tennis Canada’s volunteer of the year in 2016, and worked for the Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto and the Canadian charity Live Different, according to a Facebook profile believed to belong to her.
"She genuinely wanted to care for all those around her even if it meant sacrificing a portion of herself in return for others’ happiness. She only had kindness in her," her family said in a statement the day after the attack.
D’Amico attended Ryerson University for a time, graduating in 2010, according to Abdullah Snobar, the executive director of the Digital Media Zone there. He called her a "shining light" and "an incredible human being that we all dearly loved and already miss."
"One of the most happiest and cheerful people you will ever meet," he told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. "I had the privilege of being around her for many years and never did I see her down or sad, [she was] usually the one that was lifting people up to find their best and be their best."
Beutis Renuka Amarasingha
Originally from Sri Lanka, Amarasingha, 45, was a single mother of a seven-year-old son and was an active member of Toronto's Sri Lankan community.
Amarasingha was a nutritional services worker for the Toronto District School Board. The day of the attack was her first day working at a school near Yonge Street.
More than a thousand people attended her visitation in a Markham, Ont. chapel and one of her friends said it featured both Christian and Buddhist ceremonies because Amarasingha was an active member of both faiths.
Dilmi De Silva, who knew Amarasingha from the temple, set up a GoFundMe page for Amarasingha’s son which raised more $359,857 by its end. According to the page, the legal advisor of the Toronto Maha Vihara Society had started putting the money in a trust.
He also described how Amarasingha would volunteer at the Scarborough General Hospital, where she’d donate toys to sick children. De Silva added that she always brought food and snacks for the children at the Buddhist temple.
Randika Karunaghilake, a friend of Amarasingha for 13 years, said they visited a temple together the day before the deadly attack. In the days after the attack, she told CTV News Channel Amarasingha “treated me like her own child.”
Ahangama Rathanasiri, reverend of the temple, said Amarsingha was kind, helpful and generous. “Some days, she was the one who brought cookies for all of the children,” she said.
Munir Abdo Habib Najjar
Najjar, 85, of Jordan had been visiting Toronto for several weeks with his wife. His son, Omar Najjar, is a Jordanian-Canadian citizen who is a vocalist and director with the Arab Canadian Orchestra.
Shortly after the attack, Harry Malawi, the president of the Jordanian Canadian Society, is a family friend, told The Canadian Press "we stand together, we want to help the family heal ... physically, psychologically, emotionally and financially, they need all the help they can get."
At the time, he said that the family had plans to repatriate Najjar’s body to Jordan.
Chul Min "Eddie" Kang
Kang, 45, was a chef at Toronto’s Copacabana Brazilian Steakhouse. The day after the attack, the restaurant issued a statement expressing their “great sadness” in his passing.
"He will be deeply missed by all who knew him," said corporate director John Paul Mannella in the statement. Armando Sandobal was Kang’s coworker for four years in Toronto kitchens.
"He had a passion for food. He had a passion for cooking," Sandobal said, adding that he was "angry" about the news. "I feel bad because he (Kang) was my partner, we worked together and then this happened."
Dorothy Sewell
Dorothy Sewell, 80, was “the best grandma you could ask for,” according to her grandson Elwood Delaney. At the time, Delaney told CTV News Channel over the phone from British Columbia that Sewell was a big fan of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Either she was at the game or she watched them all on TV,” he said. “If it was a close game and you tried to call her ... she wouldn’t answer until the game was over,” he said.
“There were so many good things,” Delaney said. “Between me, the other grandkids and my kids, she called every Christmas, every birthday, every Easter.”
According to her obituary, Sewell had been a loving wife and mother to three children and left behind four grandchildren including Elwood, and four great-grandchildren.
A memorial tree had been planted near the building where Sewell used to live, CTV News Toronto reported this past April.
Besides being a 26-year employee of Sears Canada, the obituary added that she was “the best shortbread cookie maker” for her nieces and nephews.
Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Forsyth
Forsyth, 94, lived in the area of the attack, according to two of her friends. Neighbour Paulina Reyes told CP24 that Forsyth was a friendly person who, despite needing a walker, was “always walking around.”
“She was a good person,” Reyes said. “Very nice. Very friendly. Always (had) time to speak to people.”
According to her obituary, she was a “beloved aunt” and “cherished friend.” It also added Forsyth was a “truly independent, spirited and colourful character.”
The post also noted that, after her funeral was held, her cremated remains would be interred in her family plot in Newhaven, England with her mother and two siblings.
Arshalouise Nersessian, whose parents lived in the same building as Forsyth, described her as a “lady who loved life and was doing everything on her own until the last moment."
Nersessian said Forsyth had several surgeries and that “she was always positive after every single one of them, that she was going to live and enjoy life.”
"I could never imagine that someone can kill her spirit,” Nersessian added. “Because her spirit will always be with us."
So He Chung
The University of Toronto biology student was known for her love of fashion and Chung, 22, also worked as a sales associate at luxury retailer Holt Renfrew. According to her LinkedIn account, Chung studied cellular and molecular biology at the University of Toronto from 2013 to 2018.
Staff at Holt Renfrew confirmed to CTV News that Chung was among the 10 victims killed in the van attack.
Chung was reportedly a member of the University of Toronto Korean Students’ Association, which acknowledged in a Facebook post that one of its members was killed in the attack. The group went on to hold a vigil, which saw hundreds of people attend. The group also organized a vigil for fellow victims Chul Min "Eddie" Kang and Ji Hun Kim.
The Friday after her death, Holt Renfew hung a Canadian flag in the window of its Bloor Street location with the hashtag #TorontoStrong.
Andrea Bradden
Bradden, 33, of Woodbridge, Ont., was an account executive at Gartner, a U.S.-based advisory and research firm whose Toronto office is located on the stretch of Yonge St. where the attack occurred.
She was also an active member of the Slovenian Roman Catholic church in Etobicoke and several cultural Slovenian groups.
The mayor of Caledon, Ont., the location where Bradden went to school, and the mayor of Vaughan, Ont., where she had lived, both expressed their grief to several media outlets.
Geraldine Brady
Brady, 83, was a “cherished” grandmother who was better known as “Gerry” to friends and family, according to her obituary.
An Avon salesperson for more than 45 years, she was likely visiting customers in the area at the time of the attack. "She was very honest and caring for others," her colleague Feanny Xu told The Canadian Press at the time. “She is wonderful. It's so sad.”
According to her obituary, Brady, who was described as a “fabulous seamstress," left behind two daughters, five grandchildren and one great-grandson.
Speaking to CTV News Channel shortly after her death, Brady’s neighbour, Lilianna Ketz, described the woman as “friendly” and “very resilient” in the face of health issues.
“She was always nice… the best neighbour that can be,” Ketz said. “It’s really hard to realize she’s gone just like that.”
Ji Hun Kim
According to authorities, Kim, 22, was a South Korean national studying in Toronto. Several people commented on her memorial page, including Seneca College professor Gerardo Suarez del Real Lujan.
“I had the honour and pleasure of being Ji Hun’s professor this semester. She was a dedicated, intelligent, and quiet student; I’m certain she made her family very proud and happy,” he wrote.
With reports from CTV Toronto and CP24 and files from The Canadian Press
