Man crushed by roller

A Milton man was crushed to death while building a dirt bike course in Halton Hills. Timothy DaSilva, 20, was driving a roller to pack down the track being built at Halton Place on 15 Sideroad and Regional Rd. 25 just south of Acton shortly before 4 p.m. Saturday, Halton Police said.

BMX racer crushed by roller building track at Halton Place

An elite BMX bike racer was killed Saturday afternoon while building a new track at Halton Place in Halton Hills. Tim DaSilva, 20, of Milton died when a roller he was operating overturned, pinning him underneath as he was helping to finish construction of a new track at the farm on 15 Sideroad, near Highway 25 south of Acton. Fighting back tears on her front lawn Monday afternoon, Zira DaSilva recalled her son's passion for the sport. "I can't imagine any other place he could have passed on," said the grief-stricken mother while surrounded by family and friends. "That's where he would have wanted (to go). He died living his dream." Among those on his crew was younger brother Chris, a prominent local racer himself who had been competing with Tim for the better part of the last decade. Seeing his big brother head up his first track-building project had been extremely rewarding. "Every time he'd finish a new jump there'd be a huge smile on his face. He was so excited," recalled a somber Chris. "I really looked up to him." While the E.C. Drury High School graduate played a number of sports growing up, all took a back seat when he discovered BMX racing, said his father Manny. "Once he found racing, that was it," he said. And although he didn't officially start taming the track until he was about nine or 10, his

mother said that the love-of-racing seed had

been planted years earlier. "When he was three we had a house with an unfinished basement and he'd ride around down there on his three wheeler for hours. He loved anything fast." Enjoying success on both sides of the border over the past several years and looking ahead to the Olympics, DaSilva was always eager to give back to the sport that had given him so much. A role model in local BMX circles, he and Chris had helped run a number of clinics-- including one for autistic children. Girlfriend Lyndsey Finn said that was typical of the avid racer, whom she described as "the happiest person ever." "I don't know what else to say. He was always there for everybody. He's who you'd go to if there was anything wrong," she said. "He was a big dreamer - as well and was going to make them all come true." Added big sister Jessica, "Tim'll live on forever in his family and friends. He'll be missed by all who knew him." That's no hollow gesture, given the ever growing list of condolences on the Milton Track 2000 website, which can be added to by visiting www.track2000bmxracing.com. Memorial donations to a trust fund through Prosperity One in the young racer's name-- to be used at Track 2000-- can be made at McKersie-Kocher Funeral Home. DaSilva will be laid to rest Wednesday at Milton Evergreen Cemetery. Halton Police, the Ontario Coroner's Office and Ministry of Labour officials are investigating the accident.