She was two years old, and the helicopter came for her

There is a particular vulnerability in a group of small children crossing a residential street, a line of bright jackets and tiny hands held in a chain, moving at the pace of the smallest among them. On Wednesday morning, that chain was broken. A daycare worker was leading five children—aged seven months to three years—on their daily walk in Oshawa, crossing northbound at the intersection of Ryerson Crescent and Sheridan Street, when a vehicle making a left turn struck them all .

The youngest victim, a two-year-old girl, suffered life-threatening injuries, including what witnesses described as a serious head injury, and was airlifted to a Toronto-area trauma center by an Ornge helicopter. The other four children were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. The daycare worker, an adult woman, was hospitalized with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with police before being taken to a hospital with minor injuries .

The intersection where the collision occurred has a two-way stop, and the vehicle turning left did not have a stop sign. "There are no stop signs for them to potentially stop and take a look around there," Acting Sergeant Nicholas Gluckstein told reporters. "But five children and an adult female crossing the road is a pretty large sight to see" . He said investigators would examine speed, distracted driving, and impairment as potential factors, and would conduct a reconstruction of the collision. No charges have been laid .

There is a context to this collision that extends beyond a single morning. Oshawa, like many cities in the Greater Toronto Area, has seen a rise in pedestrian injuries in recent years, and the victims are often the most vulnerable road users: children, the elderly, those who cannot move quickly or anticipate the errors of drivers. The daycare group was doing what daycare groups do every day across the region—walking through a residential neighborhood, teaching children about the world by moving through it. The routine was the point. The routine is what made the collision so difficult to absorb.

For the families of the five children, the hours after the collision were spent waiting for news that no parent wants to receive. The two-year-old was in critical condition, and police said they were "hoping for the best" while acknowledging the severity of her injuries . The other children were treated and released or were expected to recover. The daycare worker, whose name has not been released, was in serious condition. The driver, whose identity has also not been released, is cooperating and has not been charged.

Gluckstein urged drivers to slow down, obey the rules of the road, and be aware of their surroundings. He also urged pedestrians to make eye contact with motorists before crossing . The advice is standard and, in the context of a two-year-old fighting for her life, almost unbearably inadequate. The intersection remains closed while investigators comb for video footage and speak with witnesses. The children who were not seriously injured will return to daycare. The two-year-old will fight. And the question of how a turning vehicle failed to see a group of six pedestrians will be answered, if it is answered at all, by the reconstruction.

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Sources: CBC News, CTV News, The Canadian Press