Olympic gold medal swimmer Victor Davis, who suffered massive injuries when he was struck by a speeding car over the weekend, died Monday.
The 25-year-old former world record holder was hit outside a bar early Saturday morning. He sustained severe head and spinal injuries, and was in a coma.Monday, Dr. Gerard Mohr, a neurosurgeon, conducted tests and declared Davis brain dead. The Canadian swimmer's parents, Mel Davis and Leone Heynes, decided to remove him from life support systems.
"It is the express desire of the family that some good come of this tragedy, that the death of Victor Davis will allow other young people to live," Jacques Charbonneau, communications director of Notre-Dame Hospital, said in reference to the decision to donate the swimmer's vital organs.
"It is our hope that others will take a lesson from this extreme generosity and also think of organ donations in their time of grief."
In a press release, Montreal police said no criminal charges have been filed because the 19-year-old driver of the car turned himself in to a police station a few minutes after the accident.
The statement said the driver "was unable to avoid hitting the man, who was standing nearly in the middle of the street." The driver was questioned and released.