Just days before he was struck by a driver while riding his e-bike near ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Metropolitan University, Samuel Willetts woke up early in his East York basement apartment and went down to Balmy Beach.
It was a trip Willetts often made. He regularly plunged into the waters of Lake Ontario, even in January. On this summer day last month, he made coffee on the beach.
“He just was engaging with life fully, all the time,†his mother, Gaylene McCutcheon, said. “As a little boy, I couldn’t keep up with him. It was, to be honest, a little bit exhausting.â€
Willetts, a 28-year-old lighting technician and aspiring cinematographer, died in hospital on July 31, two weeks after he was struck by a silver Dodge Ram pickup truck at . ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ police announced his death Thursday, marking the 26th fatal collision in the city this year.
Police are investigating the crash and have asked people to provide any security or dashcam footage they may have. McCutcheon said there are plans for the citizen group Advocacy for Respect of Cyclists to put up a ghost bike at the scene of the accident.
“He just didn’t have time to reach his zenith,†McCutcheon said. “He was really just kind of building momentum.â€
Willetts aspired to work in film. He made several short films, including a 10-minute documentary of a midwife in the Chiapas region of Mexico that will be screened at his celebration of life at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on Monday. Another project called “Milk,†which won a prize at his school, York University, tells the story of a deaf daughter who receives hearing aids, only to take them out soon after while her parents are fighting.
Willetts was always creative, his mother said. The family moved from ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ to Ottawa when Willetts was two and the house was filled with Lego, paint brushes, glue and the sound of various instruments, particularly the guitar.
As a kid, McCutcheon took Willets to his first painting class. Afterwards, sitting in the back seat of the car, he was finally at ease.
“(He was) kind of glassy-eyed,†McCutcheon recalled. “His little body was just limp, because he finally got it out of him.â€
Willetts’ parents gifted him with his first camera when he was eight. He immediately started making short films for YouTube.
Gaylene McCutcheonWhen he was eight, his parents gave him a point-and-shoot camera. He immediately started making movies for YouTube with Playmobil and Lego figures. They were not well received.
“People were kind of trashing them. My husband was furious and would go on and chastise people,†McCutcheon remembered. Later in life, “Sam just said, ‘Dad, they were trash. I was eight!’ But he didn’t care.â€
Every birthday, Willetts would ask for more filmmaking tools. One year editing software, another lighting.
In addition to his mother McCutcheon, Willetts is survived by his father, Mark, and brother Luke.
McCutcheon described Willetts as gentle, someone who didn’t dominate conversation and instead listened keenly. He was generous, too.
He drove his father’s old truck, a 1999 Toyota Tacoma, and friends constantly asked for help moving. Even in the summer, when the heat was overwhelming, he always said yes, according to McCutcheon.
Willetts was also an organ donor — his final act of generosity, McCutcheon said.
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