Toronto

Foot path at Dufferin Grove Park honours cyclist Jenna Morrison

A unique foot path built on the concepts of reflexology is now open to the public at Dufferin Grove Park as a memorial to a Toronto cyclist killed in 2011.

Morrison died after being trapped beneath a truck in 2011

Jenna Morrison, a 38-year-old mother expecting her second child, died in 2011 while riding her bike.

A unique foot path is now open to the public at Dufferin Grove Park as a memorial for a Toronto cyclist killed in 2011.

Jenna Morrison was 38-years-old and pregnant with her second child when she died after being trapped beneath the wheels of a truck in November 2011.

A truck travelling southbound on Sterling Road made a right turn westbound on Dundas Street, the same route Morrison was taking. According to police, somehow the woman ended up trapped under the truck.

Florian Schuck was Morrison's partner. Together they had a five-year-old son and were expecting their second child.

For Schuck, the past three years have been a struggle.

“I have met her endlessly at night, in my dreams, under that truck,” he said. “It’s a tremendous loss. You do wonder how to keep going for a while in life.”

Now, after months of planning a new foot path to honour his partner, the work is finally finished.

“The family approached and said we really want to do something special for Jenna," said Coun. Ana Bailo. "This was a dream Jenna had, she really want this foot path."

The project cost about $110,000. The community worked hard to gather the funds to make the dream a reality.

“The money was raised with family, with community functions," Bailo said. "I had my yearly barbecue [to] raise money for a community project so one of them was this."

Morrison’s passion for reflexology was the inspiration for architects in charge of designing the path, which is now the first of its kind in an Ontario public park.

With such a reflexology foot path, there is concrete embedded with stones of various sizes. 

As a person walks along the path barefoot or in socks, the stones are believed to touch various pressure points in the feet that affect other parts of the body.

“I hope it gives an opportunity for the community to gather, to sense her presence and to create an individual journey for everybody that will use it,” Schuck said.

The ribbon cutting ceremony to officially celebrate the opening of the foot path takes place Saturday July 26 at around 2 p.m.