A Tribute to Trucker David Virgoe

Please visit David's official memorial site at
www.davidvirgoe.org

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From his brother Don Virgoe:
To my brother David:
You were always the shy one but your heart was always big.
You always knew when I needed help when we were growing up and of course you gave it to me. Thanks David!

Remembering when I wanted to run away from home at the age of 5 and you said, "You can't go alone, I will come with you". And you only did that so I wouldn't be alone! So we found 2 sticks and got 2 tea towels, wrapped all our little treasures up and tied it to the sticks...mom even helped. She knew we wouldn't go very far. We dressed warm even though it was the middle of summer and walked out the door after giving mom a kiss goodbye.

With our heads down we slowly walked to the end of the driveway, stopping and looking back at mom, then at each other...the tears started and we hugged and David said,"Now do you forgive mom for not letting you have icecream for breakfast?"
I know you put your truck in the ditch hoping not to hurt anyone...that was you!
You were always kind, sensitive, caring of all, thoughtful, helpful, a joker but most of all you were my friend and my big brother!

David, I am having hard time without you, so is mom and dad and the rest of the family! We love you with all our hearts and if I could give my life to have you back home, I would!

I know you wouldn't like being called a hero but you definitely are a hero, to me, the family and so many others. You saved many lives the day we lost you and I am proud to call you my brother!

So until we see each other again, I will never forget you and I will always love you!
My hero!

Love,
Don

My friend Dean said, and it's true, The evening sky is a lot less bright, for a star has fallen and that star is you...night David.

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On June 18th, 2007, carelessness behind the wheel of a car traveling at speeds seventy above the legal limit of 100 km/hr on Highway 400 south of Innisfil, Ontario, caused a truck driver of 26 years, David Virgoe, to make the ultimate sacrifice to further prevent carnage and death on the highway.

Three friends had engaged in an alleged street race northbound indulging in a stupid and selfish plan to beat each other to Wasaga Beach.
One of the cars, a green Pontiac Grand Am, driven by Nauman Nusrat, allegedly lost control as it attempted to pass David's tanker-truck, striking his truck's right passenger side and triggering a chain of events that resulted in David having to perform a series of safety maneuvers that led to his premature death.

David was 48 when he died. He had three children and five grandchildren. He had a wife, five brothers and a sister, countless other relatives and numerous friends. He gave his life to save the lives of other drivers who also had spouses, children, grandchildren and countless other relatives.

David was born on September 15, 1958, the first of seven children for his parents.
He was your typical oldest child trying his best to lead by example for his younger siblings.
David was an all-round nice guy, straight and narrow according to reports published in the media. He'd give you the shirt off his back agreed all who knew him.

David was a quiet guy who loved to joke and watch Nascar competitions.
Davey Allison was his favorite driver.
He lived to help his family. Family meant everything to him.

No one will ever know what went through David's mind in the final moments leading up to his death.
But there is no denying that David is a hero.
He knew that he had mere seconds to make a decision to get his truck and tanker off the road before he could do more serious damage having already pinned a Jeep to the center guardrail. There is no doubt in my mind that David drove for the ditch never thinking it would be his last day on Earth. Who really thinks that?

Drivers who stopped and gathered at the side of the road while they waited for emergency personnel to do their jobs clamoured to tell the arriving media that the trucker pinned in the wreckage was a hero.
The word resonated in media reports throughout the day and the weeks that followed.

Hero ... he was a hero. He swerved to avoid a minivan carrying a family. He swung his truck back into the northbound lanes after he jackknifed towards the southbound lanes. He was a hero. A hero they said, some crying into their sleeves, others using their shirts to wipe their eyes. Then word passed through the crowd that the trucker didn't make it.

Hero, they cried again, making sure the reporters wrote it down.
Be sure you write he died a hero.

RON BULL/TORONTO STAR

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A NOTE FROM GIGABABY: (July 2, 2007)
As this long weekend comes to a close, well, at least for me anyway, I want to take some time to write about a man I did not know but whose death made me stop and think about what's happening on our streets and in the cars of the people who drive around us.

The last 48 hours have been an amazing and emotional roller coaster ride for me. And all in a manner that did not involve me, you know, my life. What I did. How we blew up $30 worth of fireworks that was an incredibly disappointing show on Saturday night. How Jayde was absolutely terrified that she refused to come back out onto the deck and stood in the living room, knees shaking and crying for me to go upstairs. She climbed the stairs with me following her and her telling me, "I scared". Broke my heart, it did, because we didn't mean to frighten her.

I did write about my Friday only because I needed a breather from all the bail coverage for the accused in David Virgoe's death and I needed to vent. And this is where I vent.

In the last three days, I have witnessed my little blog that sat quiet and small in its wee little corner of the Internet absolutely implode.

People came in droves. Driven by curiosity about the accused. Not many came for David Virgoe.

And then it got personal. And how it got personal for me is when I came across the memorial Group that had been created on Facebook for David Virgoe and how small it was.

The group is too small.
There are not many members. Granted it's not a public forum but registering for Facebook so one can access it takes all of 60 seconds.

Created by his brother, Don Virgoe, it's a poignant tribute to a man, who according to his brother-in-law, who eulogized him at his funeral, had touched so many lives just through countless acts of kindness he gave not only on a personal scale, but in his job which carried him out into society, where he drove among us and laughed with us and joked with us. Maybe not necessarily you or me, but apparently with so many complete strangers. Strangers who have reached out to comfort the Virgoe family in this terrible tragedy in so many ways, they are overwhelmed by it all.

Death becomes personal for me when I am allowed to come in and be part of that person's life. It becomes emotional for me when people write me to tell me things in confidence and grant me trust, bring me into the circle to thank me for my support.

When I started to blog about the death of David Virgoe, I never in a million years thought it would become what is has for me. It's like I am on a mission.

It became personal when I saw pictures posted in the Facebook Group for David Virgoe by his family members.

I have never known tragedy. I have never known unexpected loss. Not in a way that would cripple me, bring me to my knees and make me clutch my heart and leave me in an endless river of tears.

I can only imagine such pain.

I think of my dad, who is my right hand man and can't even bring myself to imagine life without him. I can't fathom it. I don't even want to think about it if I lost my Chad.

To put this all into perspective is to try to understand sudden loss.

Unlike a disease, where a family is told, then time marches on, where you know the end is near and you are given some room to digest the news that someone you love is going to die ... there is a huge difference to a scenario that began with a day like any other. Where your husband rolled out of bed, made you breakfast, kissed you goodbye while telling you he'd see you tonight ... that this is the LAST time you will ever feel him, smell him, talk to him, look at him, see light in his eyes, watch him put his jacket on, search for his keys and remind you to make an appointment for an oil change.

The last time.

When I heard about the accident and details made its way into the papers, I was angered by the absolute senselessness of it all. Plus, with my dad having been a trucker for 25 years, I only knew too well how people drive and how people don't know how to drive when trucks are on the road with them. But not only that, but then to read that his death was the result of two to three people with obviously no common sense speeding up the 400 in a effort to beat one another to Wasaga Beach, the selfishness of it all, the stupidity of it all, made something inside me stop and say, hang on a second here ... enough is enough.

In all my efforts to publicly shame the two accused, I haven't spent a lot of time in writing about the trucker who died, who through his driving and his attempts to avoid further carnage lost his life in what was NO ACCIDENT.

As I said before, I did not know David Virgoe. I do not know anyone who knows him or anyone related to him. Everything I've written has been by choice.

The Facebook group set up about David is all one needs to keep his memory alive.
Please join.
To access it, you will need a Facebook account or log into Facebook if you are a member. But to save people the time, I was granted permission to post pictures of David here on my blog.

This truly means a lot to me. It makes my heart swell.

For those who have asked me if I have contact info for the family, I would suggest you join the Facebook group.

I plan to continue blogging about this case. But I also intend to continue to blog about other things and continue to provide commentary about stuff in my life, stuff that bugs me or interests me ... just stuff.

I want to take this time to just give something to the public that puts a face to this tragedy.

May you rest in peace, David. And may the Virgoe family continue to have strength as they struggle through this difficult time.

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October 22, 2007
Below is a picture of a cross Dean Virgoe had made that was placed at the crash site on October 21, 2007. My husband Chad and I were on hand to help the Virgoes pay tribute to David. I also created a video for David in his honor: [click here].

Below are some pictures from that day:

The first one warms my heart when I look at it as the sun's rays shine down on all of us - bathing us all in David's spirit.

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None of the allegations have been proven yet in court.