The “freedom convoy” may be gone, but traumatized Ottawans have continued to hear “phantom” truck horns, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported Saturday.
THE QUOTE
In a feature story — headlined “The trucks have left Ottawa, but ‘phantom honking’ lingers for many downtown” — the CBC interviewed residents of Canada’s capital city who think they are still hearing honking despite the recent dispersal of the anti-vaccine mandate demonstrators and their big rigs.
- “When you hear that noise, it’s like, ‘Oh, are they back? Is there a road convoy coming back, right?'” said Sean Flynn. “‘I felt I was constantly doing these sort of double takes … it almost feels a bit re-traumatizing.”
- “It’s hard to explain because I think with any post-traumatic stress-induced thinking, it’s not very rational. You’re not actually hearing honking,” said Zakir Virani, who reported “constant on-edgeness” and “fear” when leaving his apartment.
- According to psychiatrist Peter Liu: “These sounds become sort of embedded in mind, kind of like the way trauma leads to flashbacks. Even long after this has happened, the brain is still in a hyper-vigilant state and expects more honking.”