While the City of Montreal was waiting for Mother Nature to clear its streets and sidewalks of snow and ice, many pedestrians were slipping and sliding as they tried to go about their everyday lives.
Many people fell, including Nadya Mirarchi, who is now planning legal action against the city.
"I fell on the ice on the sidewalk as I was leaving my house on the way to the doctor" Mirarchi told CTV Montreal. "I slipped, my ankle stayed behind and the rest of my body didn't."
The fall left the Riviere-des-Prairies resident's ankle broken in three places.
"Even the hospital said, 'This is a special case. You really broke it everywhere. Basically you have a floating foot. I broke it in three places all around.' He said basically you have your ligaments and your skin holding your foot," she said.
The entire ordeal was caught on a neighbour's front-door camera and her husband took pictures of the sidewalk when ambulance technicians arrived.
They all show the same thing, considerable ice build on the sidewalk outside Mirarchi's home.
"When we called the ambulance they couldn't get inside my house because there was still ice outside. So they had to salt in front of my driveway," she said.
The Riviere-des-Prairies borough told CTV that three sidewalk salting operations took place last week.
"It's all about the city not doing their job," she said.
Her husband and neighbours echoed the statement.
"Something has to be done, it's ridiculous. All over Montreal, people falling, people getting hurt," her husband Juliano Lafratta said. "I'll sell my house if I have to. I'll go all the way. I'll make sure they get what's coming."
"It could have been prevented if the streets and the sidewalks were better," said neighbour Stephanie Passucci.
Mirarchi and her neighbours have called the borough multiple times, but say the sidewalk is still a major hazard.
For now Mirarchi will have a second surgery after her swelling subsides in order for doctors to install plates and screws into her leg.
"I'm going to get better but the frustration is greater than the pain right now," she said.