A cyclist who died last week in hospital after he was hit by a car on Lake Shore Blvd. last month “created so much kindness,” friends and family told the Star.

Jonas Mitchell, 36, was the third of four cyclists to die on Toronto streets this year.

On May 15, Mitchell was riding his bicycle on Colborne Lodge Dr., heading south towards Lake Shore Blvd. At the same time, police say a 27-year-old man was driving east on Lake Shore in a Honda Civic, approaching Colborne.

They collided. Mitchell was taken to hospital, where he died on June 7, police said.

Family and friends identified him to the Star.

Cody Campbell, Mitchell’s younger brother, said that he’ll be remembered as someone who was always there to lend a hand, an avid traveller and a Dallas Cowboys fan.

“He was there, whether it was something small or something big,” said Campbell. “And he was always positive, even in the worst situations he’d be the guy that would find something to be positive about.”

Campbell visited his brother in hospital and said they had been optimistic he would pull through.

“(He was) someone who’s created so much kindness, compassion and happiness and has been taken away from so many different people. Whether it’s family or friends, everyone that knows him knows him as that guy who is going to make the gathering that much better, and we’ve lost that — we don’t have that because it was taken away from us.”

Robert McEvoy said Mitchell and he had been best friends since they met at school in Grade 1.

“We grew up together,” McEvoy said. “He was the best man and emcee at my wedding because he was always the life of the party and the centre of attraction.”

McEvoy said he was lucky enough to see Mitchell in Toronto in April, shortly before the accident, when he and his son came down from Ottawa to visit.

He described Mitchell as a very outgoing person with a huge heart.

“He was the type of person to make friends with the world,” McEvoy said. “From the person who worked at the hotel, to strangers walking on the street.”

McEvoy said Mitchell was his daughter’s godfather, and he would often come over to hang out with her, or take her out for sushi and go “girl shopping.”

Mitchell used to work at two popular Toronto restaurants, Jump and Canoe, both owned by Oliver & Bonacini Hospitality (O&B).

“All of us at O&B are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Jonas Mitchell, and our hearts go out to his family,” the company said in a statement.

“A valued member of the teams at both Canoe and Jump restaurants, Jonas’ personal energy and positive spirit have left a lasting impact.”

Mitchell’s co-workers at O&B set up a GoFundMe while he was in hospital. As of late Wednesday night, $34,341 of the $50,000 goal had been raised by 340 people in 27 days.

Campbell said the support after his brother’s accident was “very overwhelming.”

He hopes Mitchell’s death raises awareness about road safety in Toronto. Jennifer Keesmaat, Toronto’s former chief planner, said Wednesday the city should declare a “state of emergency” after a surge of pedestrian and cyclist deaths this week.

Mitchell’s cousin, Jeremy MacDonald, informed the Star of a memorial ghost bike ride planned for Friday in Mitchell’s honour. It’s a 10-kilometre route starting at Spadina Ave. and Bloor St. and ending at the crash site on the south side of Lake Shore Blvd. W. at Colborne Lodge Rd., said the public Facebook event.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

MacDonald also commented on the rising number of cyclist and pedestrian deaths happening across the city.

“There is clearly a crisis in this city,” he said in a Facebook message. “Pedestrian deaths and cyclist deaths continue to rise astronomically.”

“There is an utter failure in transportation … and this is true for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and drivers,” he said.

By the Star’s count, 18 pedestrians and four cyclists have been killed this year already.

Campbell’s glad the issue is in the spotlight, but it comes at a bitter cost.

“I don’t think it should take a situation like this to be having this conversation,” he said. “This whole situation has really opened my own eyes to the attitudes of both motorists and cyclists — I think there needs to be mutual respect.”

Traffic death numbers compiled by the Star are higher than the official police count. That’s in part because Toronto police figures for traffic fatalities don’t include deadly collisions that happen on private property, such as in the parking lots of apartment buildings or malls, or on provincial 400-series highways within Toronto, which are the jurisdiction of the Ontario Provincial Police.

The Star has counted four cyclist deaths this year; police have counted three, excluding the March 20 death of a cyclist who hit a parked car in North York.

Neither tally includes victims of homicide, such as those killed in the Yonge St. van rampage.

Police announced Mitchell’s death amid a wave of outrage over pedestrian and cyclist deaths in the city.

The city unveiled Vision Zero — a plan to reduce traffic deaths to zero by 2021 — two years ago Wednesday. Since that date, 93 pedestrians or cyclists have died on the streets of Toronto, according to data compiled by police and the Toronto Star.

On Wednesday, a chorus of experts and advocates called for stronger action against traffic deaths.

“I am calling for a state of emergency, which means treating this crisis as a high priority and investing in immediate measures to create a safe environment for vulnerable road users,” Keesmaat told the Star.

Note - June 18, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that referred to Jeremy MacDonald by an alternate name.