The guilty verdict against the truck driver accused of negligence in the 2019 pileup on the A-440 in Laval is welcomed as a relief by ambulance driver Mathieu Goyer, who was among the first on the scene on the day of the tragedy.
• Also read: Four dead in pileup on the 440: truck driver convicted of negligent driving
The latter was just finishing his shift with his colleague Marc-André Gaudreau when the incident occurred very close to him. He was accompanied by a colleague and was able to get there very quickly.
For him, the guilty verdict against the trucker who was responsible for the pileup that killed four people means the event is final and allows the victims and others involved to continue their journey.
“It is a relief for us because in the face of the event, the tragedy, both for us and for all the victims, to see that justice has finally been done and that justice has seen to it is a form of relief for us.” “he said in an interview with LCN.
Mr. Goyer says he has been able to put this event behind him, although some images still come to mind sometimes.
“It will happen from time to time when certain situations remind us of it,” he says. But I could say it’s behind us now.”
“We still have repercussions that will never be forgotten, it will remain in our memory, but for several years it will be better for me as well as for my colleague Marc-André,” he continues. We struggled to turn the page, but we succeeded.”
The two paramedics were also honored for their courage in the Quebec National Assembly after the tragedy.
For Mathieu Goyer, like his colleague, giving up his job was never an option despite the post-traumatic shock.
“We never thought about quitting or giving up. We always wanted to come back. The CSST originally wanted to relocate us, but we wanted to get back on the streets together, he says. What allowed us to return was supervision [psychologique] that we received.”
Watch the full interview in the video above