Toronto man, 29, froze to death in his front yard after falling out of wheelchair during extreme cold alert
A neighbour found Mark Stroz’ motionless body facedown in his front yard. The last time he was seen alive, he was taking a cab home after a night out with friends
On one of the coldest nights of the year, Mark Stroz froze to death within sight of his Toronto front door.Saturday night temperatures dropped to as low as -25 C (-40 C with windchill), putting the city under an extreme cold alert. The neighbourhood also happened to be without power. Starting at 4:30 a.m., 4,000 homes — including the home Mr. Stroz shared with his mother in suburban Etobicoke — were struck by a blackout.
At sunrise, it was a neighbour who first noticed Mr. Stroz’ motionless body facedown in his front yard, his wheelchair nearby. The last time anybody had seen the 29-year-old alive, he had been taking a cab home after a night out with friends.“On behalf of the family and friends of Mark Stroz we respectfully request privacy during this remarkably difficult time,” read a Monday statement by Shelley Nicholas, an organizer with Markham Islanders Sledge Hockey, with whom Mr. Stroz was a player.“We would like to thank everyone for their kind words of condolence as we remember a young man who was taken away from us much too soon.”A well-known member of the Ontario sledge hockey community, Mr. Stroz had played at the Ontario Paralympic Winter Championships in 2008. Throughout Sunday and Monday, shocked friends and family turned to his Facebook page to leave messages of grief and condolence.When an ambulance arrived just after 7 a.m. on Sunday, Mr. Stroz was what paramedics described as “vital signs absent”; no pulse, and no signs of breathing.
He may have already been dead by the time he was brought to the Emergency Room at Humber River Hospital, but as is typical in hospitals, Canadian doctors did not halt resuscitation efforts until his body had been warmed to room temperature.
The policy exists because, in rare cases, a seemingly frozen patient can miraculously see their vital signs return during rewarming efforts.Toronto police are investigating the death, but the circumstances surrounding Mr. Stroz’ final minutes are considered “non-criminal.”“It’s considered a sudden-death investigation,” said Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu, spokeswoman with the Toronto Police Service. Investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy, and have put out a public call to speak to the cab driver who drove Mr. Stroz home.At times of extreme cold, small emergencies that would otherwise be survivable — such as a minor collapse or a lost dementia patient — can quickly turn into life or death crises.“With these temperatures the way they’ve been, it’s a lot quicker than other times,” said a spokesman for Toronto Paramedic Services.
In fact, at almost exactly the same time as Mr. Stroz’ body was being discovered in Etobicoke, a similar scenario was playing out in similarly cold-battered New Jersey.
At 7 a.m. on Sunday, the lifeless body of Olivia Benito, 66, was found face-down on a Lakewood, N.J. sidewalk. After visiting with a friend until midnight, Ms. Benito had been walking home when it is believed she collapsed and froze to death.
