Barrie, Ont. construction worker survives being tossed in trailer when EF-2 hit
Stephen Galyen was at a construction site in Barrie, Ont. on Thursday when the trailer he was in started to shake before being hurled into the air.
The powerful storm, later determined to be an EF-2 tornado, had picked up the trailer and tossed it two streets over.
"We were basically just flying around through the air. It was like barrel-rolling over and over," Galyen recalls.
As the winds tore the trailer apart, Galyen says he and two others were ejected, landing in a muddy area of the job site.
The construction worker admits there was a moment he didn't think he would survive.
"I remember being on a desk at one point, things are spilling, you're hitting the ceiling, off the floor, off the wall," he describes.
Galyen remained conscious, but his two colleagues suffered serious injuries and were initially unresponsive and bleeding.
He says he jumped into action, dragging his coworkers through the mangled construction site to the still-standing office.
Galyen brought one of the men, Chris Russo, to a bin where he could rest his injured leg and broken ribs.
"I got Eddie on my shoulder," Galyen says he carried another worker, Eddie Ameland, to the front door of the office before using his belt to tie off his arm "to stop the bleeding."
The three men were soon rushed to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. Both Ameland and Russo have since been released.
Thursday's twister left a trail of destruction in the Prince William Way area five kilometres long and up to 100 metres wide in the city north of Toronto.
No one was killed in last week's tornado, but 11 people were injured, 10 of those were hospitalized.
The city said more than 100 residents were displaced, and 71 homes were deemed uninhabitable.
Galyen has since returned to work and continues sorting through the debris looking for his belongings.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
This Toronto restaurant is no longer accepting tips. Here's how it's going
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff – tipping is no longer accepted.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.