Nutritionist Cynthia Marcotte was fatally hit by the driver of a car on Saturday evening in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, in Centre-du-Québec.
Posted at 1:22 p.m.
The 29-year-old was riding a bicycle with her boyfriend William on the side of Route 265 on Saturday evening, when they were hit head-on by the driver of a car.
Both cyclists were taken to hospital for treatment of serious injuries. “Cynthia died of her injuries en route to the hospital,” her spouse said in a Facebook post.
The driver of the vehicle is a 45-year-old man residing in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, confirmed agent Louis-Philippe Ruel, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec in Estrie. Following the tragedy, an accident reconstruction specialist went to the scene to analyze the scene. No hypothesis is favored to explain the drama. The investigation is continuing, said Mr. Ruel.
The nutritionist was known on social networks, where she presented recipes, advice and tips, particularly on intuitive eating.
“I want to personally thank the people who have followed Cynthia over the years. Without your testimonials and your beautiful words of encouragement, she would never have succeeded in doing all that she did,” said her husband William.
Cynthia Marcotte had been a member of the Ordre des diététistes nutritionnistes du Québec since 2016. She was also the author of the book Hunger: how to tame itvideographer, speaker and collaborator for Noovo Moi.
“I take pleasure in demystifying food trends, fad diets or any other belief worth analyzing,” she wrote on her blog.
“A little incomprehensible”
The Vélo Québec organization is surprised by the circumstances of the collision. “There’s nothing unusual about the layout of Route 265. The shoulders don’t feel narrower than most numbered roads. We are a little confused. It is difficult to explain how this collision occurred. It’s a bit incomprehensible,” says Magali Bebronne, program director at Vélo Québec.
She adds that crashes can sometimes be caused by human error. “We think in particular of distraction at the wheel, but from there to hitting two cyclists when there is a shoulder, we cannot explain it,” she said.
Mme Bebronne recalls that a driver must respect a minimum distance to overtake a cyclist. This reasonable distance provided for in the Highway Safety Code is 1 m on a road whose maximum speed is 50 km/h and 1.5 m when the permitted limit exceeds 50 km/h.
“Many drivers are unaware that they have the right to cross a continuous line to make these overtakings. It bears repeating, because it might encourage drivers to give more space to cyclists,” she says.
In addition, the number of cyclists who died in a road accident increased by 56.9% in 2021 compared to the average of the last five years, according to data from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec.
“Immense sadness”
The death of Cynthia Marcotte sparked many reactions Monday on social networks. “It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Cynthia Marcotte, a very dear collaborator at Noovo Moi. She knew how to inspire people and help them in their daily lives,” said the Noovo Moi – Cuisiner team.
“His work does not end here, brutally on the side of a road. It continues in the impact it has on those who rightly followed it with interest. Cynthia Marcotte, there are never enough. Losing her like this, so early in life, is obviously a human tragedy. It is also a social impoverishment”, for his part declared Jean-François Bouchard, general manager of Éditions La Presse, with whom she published her book. Hunger.
“We learn with great sadness of the tragic death of nutritionist Cynthia Marcotte, who has collaborated on our show a few times and who had the physical and mental health of young people at heart,” said the show’s team. The grocery store.
Several nutritionist colleagues also paid tribute to him. “You will have been able to inspire a crowd of people thanks to your various projects and your sparkling and admirable personality. You will forever remain a source of inspiration, both to your web community and to us nutritionists. You will be greatly missed by our profession, ”assured nutritionist Vanessa Daigle.
The team of the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec (ODNQ) also said it was saddened by the news. “We offer our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time,” she told The Press.