Doc has fatal fall from Montreal mountain

SYRACUSE, NY — Shreyas Roy, a pediatric surgeon at Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal, Canada, who died in a tragic accident on July 23 in the city, is being remembered as a man who loved people.

The Indian American surgeon, 38, a native of Syracuse, New York, who grew up in central New York, fell off a cliff on Mount Royal in Montreal and succumbed to his injuries.

Roy was hiking on Mount Royal around 4 am with his partner Veronique Frasier.

The couple had enjoyed a romantic evening with dinner out and fireworks celebrating the first anniversary of their relationship. They then went to the mountain where friends say Roy often jogged, walked his dog and hiked. There he lost his footing and fell into a ravine.

Roy was found having a heart attack roughly 30 feet below the cliff when firefighters found him.

The Indian American community in Syracuse was greatly affected by the loss of the doctor.

At the time of his death, Roy had just become a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada after completing a fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at Hopital Sainte-Justine, Universite de Montreal.

He was about to begin a position as an attending surgeon in pediatric hepatobiliary surgery and liver transplants and was to travel to Chicago to learn a new technique for pediatric liver transplants.

Roy spent part of his childhood in India before moving to Syracuse. His parents, Geeta and Ajoy Roy, are doctors who live in Jamesville. His brother, Preyas Roy, is a vibraphonist, composer and band leader who lives in Chicago.