A 26-year-old man whose throat was slashed by a wire or string while he was riding his motorcycle Sunday afternoon said he didn't feel any pain until he noticed he was bleeding profusely.
Humayun Kobir told CP24 that he was driving to work when he felt his helmet rattle, so he slowed down out of instinct.
"I didn't feel anything and then all of a sudden there was blood squirting in front of me," Kobir, his throat heavily bandaged, said Monday after he was released from hospital.
Realizing he was seriously injured, Kobir stopped his bike in Warden Avenue's northbound lanes at St. Clair Avenue East in Scarborough and sought help from a passerby.
He said a man grabbed a shirt and put it around his neck to try to stop the bleeding. Paramedics soon arrived and rushed Kobir to hospital on an emergency run.
Kobir, 26, received emergency treatment for a potentially life-threatening injury and was later upgraded to stable condition.
The intersection was closed for several hours as police investigated.
Toronto police are trying to identify the wire, possibly fishing line or a kite line, and determine whether it was intentionally strung across northbound Warden Avenue's lanes.
It appeared the line was tied around or tangled around a light standard.
Officers are also investigating the possibility that the wire dangled across the road after a kite fight.
People engage in kite fights – aerial battles where a kite flier attempts to sever an opponent's kite strings – near the intersection, police said.
Kite strings were found tangled in hydro wires and trees in the area Sunday, police said.
Officers spoke to several people who fly kites near the intersection.
Several residents told CP24 they regularly find kite string on the ground and in trees near the intersection.
With a report from CP24's Katie Simpson
