Journalling, meditating and cycling have all been steps on Ghost Padron’s daily routine.
According to their mother, Leslie-Anne Barrett, Padron is a talented painter and poet who has put their art skills to use by helping Barrett with her freelance hair and makeup work.
“They’re a very, very brainy person,” Barrett said of Padron. “In our family we go, ‘How’s the big brain doing?’ because it’s hard to keep up with them.”
On July 22, while cycling on Sweetnam Drive, south of Hazeldean Road and east of the Amberwood Village Golf and Country Club, Padron was
struck by a vehicle
before being transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
An Ottawa Police Service investigation is ongoing.
Padron has been unconscious with brain and bone injuries at the Civic campus of The Ottawa Hospital since the collision. As of the afternoon of July 31, they were getting slowly taken off sedatives and being prepared for orthopedic surgery, which Barrett said was expected within the next 48 hours.
Doctors could not provide the family with an estimated time frame for recovery, Barrett said. “It’s a waiting game now … We’re just praying that there is a time frame.”
“We can see a little light through the clouds,” Barrett added, “but by no means are we out of the woods.”
Barrett is the primary caregiver of her elderly mother, and Padron moved in with Barrett in April. A
GoFundMe
to support Barrett and Padron’s family has raised more than $47,000 so far.
Before the accident, Padron was preparing to head back to work as an outreach worker with the
Somerset West Community Health Centre
, supporting people experiencing homelessness and substance addiction. “Going back to this type of work was a big decision for them,” Barrett said.
“But that’s one thing I can say about my kid … They’ve never, ever made it about themselves,” she continued, adding that Padron didn’t often let others take their photo.
The “devastation” of the accident has had a “significant” impact on Padron’s family, with Barrett saying they’ve been unable to return to work since the incident.
One day after Padron’s collision, one child on a bicycle and another child on a scooter were both
struck
by vehicles on Ottawa roadways. On July 26, a woman
cyclist in her 70s was killed
in a collision with a motor vehicle on Mitch Owens Road in the city’s south end.
Barrett
wants drivers to be mindful of the others
sharing the road.
“
When you’re driving a car or you’re in a hurry
and you want to cut through because your time is so important, remember that there could be an elderly person with a dog, there could be someone with a baby carriage, there could be children coming home from school, or there could be someone on a bicycle,” she said.
“Your decisions, they’re very important.”
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