Tragic Death of Homeless Man Exposes Lack of Help and Support for the Homeless During Heatwaves

Peter Harrisson had been sleeping in Hutchinson-Avenue-des-Pins park for two months. He had created bonds of trust with the residents of Plateau Mont-Royal, who learned that he was struggling with asthma problems.

In the heatwave, Mr. Harrison began to have difficulty breathing. He started panting really hard. But no one intervened to help him.

Frédérique Royer made the macabre discovery. The mother of four saw the man’s body from her window.

“I saw his face was purple. And from above, I saw that there were flies. I ran out to see him. When I arrived, I saw that he was not breathing, so I called for help,” the resident told Noovo Info on Tuesday.

It then took four hours before the morgue came to collect the body lying on the ground in more than thirty degrees Celsius.

“They must have left it there in the park for a long time. It disturbed me,” added Ms. Royer.

Head of department at Urgences-santé, Jean-Pierre Rouleau explained that the paramedics quickly undertook resuscitation maneuvers on the 61-year-old man, but he was pronounced dead on site.

“It happens that the death of a person occurs in nebulous conditions requiring a certain investigation. Once the paramedics have carried out their intervention, the police department takes charge. There is an appeal to the coroner which is made. The morgue is then called to recover the body,” he explained.

The Coroner’s Office is currently investigating this matter, Noovo Info has learned.

For her part, Ms. Royer deplores the fact that we are seeing more and more homeless people suffering due to the heat in the metropolis.

“Sometimes I buy them bottles of water, but we don’t know what to do,” she says.

“We wonder how many people have to die like this before we really do something,” concluded Danielle Rousseau, another resident of the neighborhood.

See Véronique Dubé’s report in the video.