Piecing together a 50-year-old Windsor accident
Granddaughter of Windsor driver who struck Paul Morton in 1969 shares her recollections
The granddaughter of the man accused of striking a six-yearold boy with a vehicle some 50 years ago in Windsor said she’s certain there was no ill intent behind his actions.
Shirley Sangster, now 70, is a grandchild of W.J. Sangster, the man the Hants Journal reported was driving the vehicle when Paul Morton was hit.
She was living with her parents in Halifax at the time of the accident and recalls them talking about it.
“Even among my siblings, I would be the only one here and living with my parents at the time to have heard them talk about it,” said Sangster in a phone interview from her Dartmouth home.
“It was a sad thing,” she said, noting that they thought Morton had only suffered a broken leg.
She learned the full extent of his injuries while reading an article in this paper. Morton, who rarely talked about his early childhood trauma, shared his life story in December 2019. He wanted to not only provide hope to those who are undergoing physiotherapy and rehab, but to further piece together what happened on the day he was crushed by a vehicle.
Through eye witness reports and old newspaper articles, it was determined Morton was on Stannus Street in Windsor, walking to the store to buy his mother a Christmas gift, on Dec. 22, 1969. A vehicle suddenly emerged from the nearby grocery store parking lot; the driver travelled across the street and struck Morton, who was then pinned to a train signal box. It was touch and go for Morton, who required extensive surgery. He was in an induced coma for several weeks and it took 19 long months before he was able to walk again.
“The only reason why I didn’t die was because the main artery in my leg was not severed. But there was lots of broken bones everywhere,” Morton recalled.
One leg still has glass shards, rocks, and bits and pieces from the accident scene embedded in it.
Sangster said her grandfather, who had previously suffered a stroke, was sitting in the passenger seat of his car waiting for his second wife, Edna (nee Norris) to finish running some errands. Due to the stroke, he was no longer allowed to have a license. She doesn’t know what compelled him to get behind the wheel that day, only that he did — and he promptly lost control.
“He shouldn’t have gotten behind the wheel. I’m sure his wife had something to say about it,” she said.
Sangster said her grandfather, who lived in Curry’s Corner, was a very proud man — having served in the First World War with the 112th Battalion overseas. In France, he was a member of the 25th Battalion and attained the rank of captain. He was a keen sportsman and avid fisherman; a lifelong Mason and served as the senior fruit inspector of the fruits and vegetable branch of the Canadian Department of Agriculture until his retirement.
But once he had a stroke, he was a changed man, she said.
“He prided himself in being active and I remember him doing exercises and push-ups and showing off to us grandchildren,” recalled Sangster. “He was quite dramatically different, post stroke.
He wasn’t the man he was.”
He died in May 1972 at the age of 85.
Sangster said she wanted to share a little bit about her grandfather and what she recalled to help Morton as he pieces together the events of the day. She said she’s unsure why the family didn’t reach out to Morton but said she doesn’t think her parents knew how badly he was injured.
“I have no explanation for when it said the family didn’t have contact — there’s nobody for me to ask,” she said.
Sangster said she was moved by reading about Morton’s resiliency and determination to get better. She hopes sharing a little bit about her grandfather and his condition will help Morton understand more about the accident that day.
In a follow up interview with Morton, he said he never knew that William John Sangster had suffered a stroke and had his license revoked.
“I never knew any of that. We never talked about it when I got out of the hospital. Nothing was ever mentioned,” said Morton.
“It was an accident for sure.” He said he’s thankful that Shirley Sangster came forward with another piece of the puzzle.
“It’s great — the more I can find out about it, the more information I’ll know,” he said.