Former Filipino Olympic boxer Reynaldo “Rey” Fortaleza narrowly avoided being among the casualties in the tragic incident that struck Vancouver, Canada, over the weekend.
Fortaleza, who represented the Philippines in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, shared that he and his wife had attended the Lapu-Lapu Day Filipino street festival in Vancouver.
He recounted that they were already heading to their car when he decided to stop and buy some street corn from one of the many food trucks lined up along Fraser Street.
“My wife went ahead to the car. I stayed behind because I wanted to buy some street corn from one of the food trucks — there must’ve been around 50 of them,” Fortaleza said in a report by the Daily Tribune.
Fortaleza, now the publisher and CEO of Philippine Asia News Today and Philippine Showbiz Today, said a couple of friends offered him their corn as he made his way to the stands.
“I took it, said thanks, and headed to the car. My wife and I were just sharing the corn when we suddenly heard sirens blaring,” he recalled. Thinking little of it, they decided to drive home.
It was only later that Fortaleza learned of the tragedy: a man with a history of mental health issues had rammed an SUV through the crowd, killing 11 people and injuring dozens more.
“I immediately tried to call the friends I saw at the festival. They weren’t answering. Later, one of them told me he had to push people out of the way when he saw the SUV coming,” Fortaleza said.
