Over $140K raised for woman killed by school bus driver at Toronto crosswalk

The family of a 22-year-old Toronto woman struck and killed by the driver of a school bus this month has received an outpouring of support from the community, with a campaign to support the victim’s loved ones now tallying up to more than $140,000.

On October 9, Rachel Turner was crossing Kingston Road in the Beaches neighbourhood via a crosswalk at Kingswood Road when she was struck by the driver of a school bus turning onto the street. The driver remained on the scene, and Turner was transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries, where she tragically passed away four days later.

Police are investigating the incident and have appealed to local residents, businesses and drivers who may have security or dash camera footage of the incident to contact investigators.

A GoFundMe campaign posted by Rachel’s mother, Susan, says that her “shocking loss has devastated her loving family, and a wide network of people young and old, including lifelong friends in the close-knit Beach community in Toronto, peers and former classmates at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, and people she met around the world in living her life to the fullest.”

Turner is described by her devastated family as an “intelligent, kind, caring, thoughtful and selfless soul.” Her family spoke highly of her final act of selflessness, signing her organ donor card so that five other families could be spared the same heartache her loved ones are now going through.

Her family says that, after attending Laurier, majoring in Business Administration, “Rachel was on the cusp of so many of life’s richest rewards.”

Before launching her career and the fateful accident that ultimately cut those ambitions short, Turner opted to take a seven-month trip to Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia with her boyfriend, Matthew Davis. Her mother says “Rachel returned home from the trip the happiest she had ever been.”

The campaign goes on to explain that the Turner family and Rachel’s boyfriend have established The Rachel Turner Legacy Fund “to ensure Rachel’s generous spirit and empathy lives on by helping to provide resources and needed support, including crisis counselling, to young people.”

“Funds raised will be donated to organizations doing the great work Rachel would have done and to causes she would have supported.”

And those funds have been pouring in, with the campaign raising $141,138 in just six days as of writing.

The family states in the campaign that contributions “will help to ensure that Rachel will continue to have a positive impact on people in need at the most vulnerable formative stages of their young lives.”