JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neighbors at Hyde Grove Acres on Jacksonville’s Westside took it to the streets for a memorial walk Saturday afternoon.
They honored 73-year-old Barbara Mersal, who was killed in a car crash while walking her dog this week.
“I got a little flyer saying they were going to have this, and I thought maybe a few people were going to show, but man I was surprised when I came around the corner and there were well over 100 people," said Pat Gaughan, who lives in Hyde Grove Acres.
Gaughan didn’t know Mersal personally, but he saw he nearly every day.
“There’s some people that you just know through osmosis," said Gaughan. "OK, the lady that has the stroller she pushes around, that has a dog in it.”
Mersal was known throughout Hyde Grove Acres because of her daily walks, which is why so many neighbors felt compelled to walk in her memory when they learned she was hit and killed while pushing her dog.
Several neighbors pointed out the old neighborhood lacks sidewalks or speedbumps, something they plan to petition for.
“Sidewalks would be nice," said Gaughan. "They never had them here. It wasn’t part of the design.”
A City of Jacksonville spokesperson says city staff received a traffic calming request because of the crash.
That spokesperson says the reported crashes over the last five years do not indicate an unsafe road condition. There have been seven, but not concentrated in a specific location.
“In times of need, we need each other," said Gaughan. "This kind of shows that.”
Gaughan says the walk in Mersal’s honor strengthened his connection with the neighborhood.
“I met some neighbors that I didn’t know," said Gaughan. "As a matter of fact, if anything good can come out of something like this, here we are, people who didn’t know each other before now suddenly communicating.”
Another woman was hit while walking with Mersal, but she was out of the hospital and walked alongside her neighbors.
As for the dog in the stroller, Mersal’s son confirmed the dog ran to her home after the crash, and it’s doing just fine.
A GoFundMe was started in Mersal's honor.