Toronto paramedics are mourning the death of a veteran deputy commander in a motorcycle crash on Highway 118 in Haliburton over the weekend. George Eliadis and his partner Shari Williams died in the crash 5 p.m. Saturday, while two other people suffered life-threatening injuries. Eliadis had been on the force for 27 years, and often updated the media as stories were unfolding.“None of us really know the details of what happened,” said Kim McKinnon, a Toronto Paramedic Services spokesperson. She said the paramedics force really feels like a “family,” and that the loss is hitting them hard. “I can say there’s been a lot of hugs and a lot of tears and a lot of disbelief this morning in the office, and it’s pretty hard . . . for all of us to really talk about it at this point,” McKinnon said.The collision happened between Trappers Trail and Essonville Line in Highlands East Township, Ontario Provincial Police said.“A collision resulted when an eastbound motor vehicle crossed the centre line into the westbound lane where it collided with four of seven motorcycles travelling westbound,” the OPP said in a news release.On Facebook, colleagues of Eliadis changed their profile pictures to the Toronto Paramedics Services symbol with a black ribbon through it, a tradition that signifies that they’ve lost one of their own. Eliadis’s partner, Shari Williams, was a longtime member of Durham Boxing Academy, and the group posted a memorial photo on Facebook, calling her a “fighter, a friend, a warrior.” With files from Emily Fearon
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