15-year-old in coma after tree falls on him during Montreal storm

A 15-year-old boy is in a coma after being struck by a falling tree while walking home during Tuesday night’s powerful storm in Ahuntsic-Cartierville.

A 15-year-old boy is in a coma after a powerful storm swept through Montreal Tuesday night, toppling a tree that struck him as he walked home in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough.

Élie Kamal, the boy’s father, told Noovo Info the teen had been playing basketball with friends in a park before the accident. He was likely walking along Grande-Allée Boulevard near Henri-Bourassa Boulevard West when the severe winds hit.

Montreal police (SPVM) said a neighbour called 911 to report the incident and added that the teen had been trapped under the tree for several minutes before paramedics and firefighters freed him.

Kamal said he had just picked up his other son, whose mother recently passed away.

When his 15-year-old didn’t come home, Kamal checked his location using his phone and was surprised to see he was at a hospital.

“I called the Montreal Sacred Heart Hospital and asked if my son was there. They told me yes,” he said, adding that police escorted him and his other son to the hospital.

“We stayed almost the entire night.”

Kamal said his son has undergone three operations, lost a significant amount of blood, and remains in a coma.

He is expected to stay in hospital for several weeks, if not longer. “Bad luck, total bad luck,” Kamal said.