A Christmas I will never forget!

Well this last Chirstmas will be one that I will not forget! It all started back on the 22 of December. The plan was to drive home to Winnipeg with some friends Kristen Legault and her boyfriend Mike Huard. I was going to come back early, which meant we could not all go in one car, so I took my own, and they took theirs. We got a little late start but finally left the city around 7. I won a portable dvd player a few days earlier so I popped in movie and set the cruise. Mike’s car did not have cruise so I lead the way to help control his speed.

A few movies, coffee and 1200 kms later the fog started to roll in and it was getting really bad. We had just driven through Brandon and could almost taste home at this point but the fog was just too bad. We decided to get some sleep on the side of the road and turned off at the next side road. We stopped for about 2 hours and managed to get a little sleep. At 7:30 am the fog had lifted a little bit and we decided to continue. We were only driving for around 15 minutes when it happened and our lives changed forever.

Mike was driving in front of me at the time because I had not yet got settled and passed him. We could see around 150 feet in front of us (because of the fog) at the time when I saw the semi truck pull out across the number one going north. Mike had already hit his brakes, and I was able to hear his tires on the concrete. By the time Mike had gotten to the intersection the semi was crossing the entire two lanes and both shoulders. There was no where for him to turn. Mike and Kristen hit the semi trailer around 4 feet in front of the rear tires. I am not sure if the truck driver even saw them but he drove around 30 more feet before he stopped. He could have driven this far so as to stop in the middle of east and west bound lanes to not block either highway I don’t know. I saw the car hit and watched as the back of the car jumped around 3 feet in the air from the impact before proceeding underneath. I luckily, was just far enough behind them and was able to slow down enough in time but as the truck continued to move north he opened up a path for me to drive behind him. As I drove by pieces of Mike’s roof had flown so high in the air that they were falling on my windshield. I was able to stop around 20 feet passed the intersection, and could not just believe what just happened. I grabbed my phone and opened my door. I dialed 911 as I ran across the two east bound lanes (with out looking for traffic) and ran up to the trailer. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for what I was about to see next….

There were a million things running through my head at the time, the force of the impact and the fact that the roof had got ripped off, got me thinking only of something I am sure you can imagine. Well I proceeded under the trailer and saw Mike and Kristen both in their seats. I first saw Mike, who was not moving and covered with his own blood and I honestly thought he did not make it. I then focused on Kristen. She was sitting up in her seat with her head wedged between the head rest and an i-beam under the trailer. I was thankful that I did not see any blood on her. I could tell she was breathing but she too was not moving. A few moments had passed (I do not know how many) and Mike started to move and talk. I was actually relieved at this point to hear him talk. He asked me what just happened, and then realized that he was going to be OK and moved his attention to Kristen.

The following moments leading up to the arrival of the emergency team I will not describe as it is not something everyone needs to know or would want to. Luckily we were only 3 kms from the Carberry Hospital and we did not have far to go. They used airbags to lift the trailer and the jaws to open the doors. The first took Kristen out, as she was the more critical one and I followed her ambulance to the hospital. We were there for around 10 minutes before Mike had arrived in his own ambulance. They would not let me see Kristen and there was no one with Mike as they just left him in a room. I waited with Mike during the madness. Soon after the surgeon went with Kristen and got into an ambulance and went to Heath Sciences in Winnipeg. They would have flown but the fog was just too bad. They finally had time to look at Mike. He had received a pretty big cut on his head, and that is why there was so much blood. After cleaning it up and stitching they took some ex-rays and deduced that there was no damage other than the cut.

The first few days were all pretty scary while Kristen was in the ICU. They had put her in a chemical induced coma so she would have as little brain activity as possible. She had cracked her skull in many places but never broke it. She had bleeding in between her brain and her skull, but thankfully not on her brain. She was under for around 5 days before the doctors felt it was safe to let her fully awaken.

I am extremely happy to say that yesterday (Jan 1) I received and phone message from her and she is started the long road of recovery.

So the holidays were a little different for me this year, as can be expected. Other stuff did happen, I went snowboarding with some friends but I will leave that for another post, as this one is getting on in length.

I do appreciate all the help my friends and family have given me over the last little while. I will post again soon.

I would like to wish you all a Happy Christmas, and a Happy New Year!