Ottawa·NewJaxson Mansfield-O’Brey, 5, died Wednesday after he was struck by a dump truck on Presland Road. Jaxson Mansfield-O’Brey, 5, died Wednesday after being struck by a dump truck on Presland RoadBen Andrews · CBC News · Posted: Oct 16, 2025 2:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 34 minutes agoA small roadside memorial had started forming on Presland Road near Lola Street on Thursday.A child died after they were hit by a truck in Ottawa’s central community of Overbrook Wednesday afternoon, according to first responders.Family and neighbours are mourning Jaxson Mansfield-O’Brey, a boy who was killed after he was struck by a dump truck in Ottawa’s Overbrook neighbourhood Wednesday afternoon.Jillian Mansfield, the boy’s grandmother, said the five-year-old was heading to Presland Park where he often played with other kids from the neighbourhood when he was struck.”He would walk into the park and every single kid would be yelling for him,” she said. “He was born like that. We always say it, he’s an angel.”A candle and flowers were laid out in a roadside memorial on Presland Road near Lola Street, near the scene of the collision around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday.Ottawa paramedics said they attempted life-saving measures at the scene, but the boy later died in hospital. No other injuries were reported.Presland Road in Ottawa’s Overbrook community on Thursday, the day after a fatal crash involving a child. (Joseph Tunney/CBC)Nearby resident Kathleen Sauder found the injured boy and called 911.”I’m shaky right now, just thinking. I have two kids myself,” she told CBC. “I went in and gave my kids a hug and told them I loved them.”Darlanna Pope, another neighbour, said Mansfield-O’Brey was a sweet boy.”I’m just so heart-torn for them,” she said. “A parent should never have to go through that, that’s for sure. It’s an absolute tragedy for our community.” It just takes a second for a tragedy like this to happen.- Darlanna Pope, neighbourPope said residential streets in the area are normally quiet, but recent construction in the area has brought more traffic to the area.”Kids are off to that park or this park or up to the one on Donald, not really a whole lot of worries,” she said. “Now with the big dump trucks, I try to tell my boys, be wary, don’t take chances … because it just takes a second for a tragedy like this to happen.”The principal of St. Michael Elementary School, where Mansfield-O’Brey was in kindergarten, offered his condolences in a letter to parents and guardians.”Our St. Michael community is deeply saddened by the tragic death of one of our Kindergarten students who was involved in an accident after school on Wednesday,” the letter read. “The passing of Jaxson Mansfield-O’Brey has touched every part of our school family, and our hearts are with his family, classmates, and friends.”Members of the Ottawa Catholic School Board’s crisis response team and mental health professionals were at the school Thursday to offer support to students and staff, the letter said.ABOUT THE AUTHORBen Andrews is a reporter with CBC News in Ottawa. He can be reached at benjamin.andrews@cbc.ca or @bendandrews.
‘An absolute tragedy’: Family, neighbours mourn boy killed by truck in Overbrook
