Family tells ‘nightmare’ story of Squamish incident

On Monday, April 22, a driver in Squamish struck a grandmother pushing a stroller across the street, knocking her to the ground and dragging the stroller, which still had the baby in it, across several blocks.

Sara, the daughter of the woman who was hit, Carolyn, and the mother of baby Quinn, shared her family’s story in the hope that it can prevent this from happening to others.

Sara had flown from Ontario to British Columbia with her parents and two of her three children to be with her sister, who was due to give birth to her first child in a few days.

She said her family was out for a walk after dinner on Monday night when the tragedy occurred.

“My mother pushed Quinn in the stroller and they drove west on the south side of Pemberton Avenue. They were in the crosswalk on the 2nd when the car went south on the 2nd and hit them and the stroller,” she said.

Sara, her father and their three-year-old stood on the sidewalk and watched it happen.

“It was a nightmare,” she said.

“My mother was lying unconscious on the street and bleeding from her head. Quinn and the stroller were completely missing.”

As it turned out, the stroller got stuck in front of the struck vehicle, dragging it across the road while the driver fled the scene.

Bystanders went in search of the stroller when they heard Sara’s screams immediately afterward and streamed through the streets searching for the vehicle, eventually finding it with the stroller still trapped in it near Pemberton Avenue and 4th Avenue.

Little Quinn was still inside, miraculously not seriously injured.

Sara said she had a lot to thank those who helped her family during the chaos.

“Thank you to all the amazing spectators who jumped out into the street to stabilize my mother and keep her warm,” she said.

“Thank you to the very brave person who pulled Quinn and the stroller out of the vehicle and to safety. This is the same person who finally saw the connection, found me, and brought me to my baby. I will never forget him.”

She also thanked those who found Quinn first; who looked after her three-year-old child and kept her husband updated by telephone; and who drove her father to the hospital.

“Thank you to the many people in the Squamish community who have reached out with love, dropping off meals, sending messages and offering so many things to our family,” she said. “Thank you to the first responders and medical teams. Thank you to the friends and family back home who have supported us from afar. We are forever grateful.”

On the road to recovery

Baby Quinn suffered no life-threatening injuries, but did not emerge unscathed from the incident, with a bump on her head, bruises on her face and cuts on her tongue. Immediately after the incident, he was flown to BC Children’s Hospital for a CT scan, and according to those tests, there was no bleeding on his brain – but only time will tell.

“We are very confident that he will make a full recovery,” Sara said.

For Sara’s mother Carolyn, the road to recovery is much longer because her sacrum and leg are broken and there is bleeding on the brain in two areas.

“Originally they were stable and we thought we could avoid brain surgery, but her symptoms have worsened over the last week and her recent CT scan suggests there is too much pressure in her brain,” Sara said.

Carolyn will have neurosurgery in the coming days to remove a hematoma and relieve pressure in her brain. She is being closely monitored at a hospital in Vancouver.

As a sign of the trauma she suffered, Carolyn has no memory of the incident or the day that followed.

“We are confident she will make a full recovery, but she may still have some residual difficulties,” Sara said. “We won’t know until a few months after the operation.”

Whatever happens, Carolyn, who works as a family doctor in rural Ontario, won’t be able to return home for more than a month, and she won’t be able to return to work for months more – a period , which according to Sara shows the trend. about the impact of the incident.

“Release from work impacts the entire community, which, like most Canadian communities, already suffers from a shortage of primary care physicians,” she said.

getting together

Sara’s entire family was devastated by the incident, which came just as they were coming together to support one of their own in what should have been a time of celebration – her sister had her first child in the days following the incident, However, her mother already I can’t be with her as planned.

Sara’s husband and five-year-old child are now with them in British Columbia, while her brother has come from Indonesia to support his mother.

While they then shuttled back and forth between Squamish and Vancouver, the family chose to remain in Vancouver, close to Carolyn as she recovers in the hospital in the coming days. At some point they hope to move their home base back to Squamish.

“Our motivation for sharing our story is to prevent this from happening to anyone else,” Sara said.

“There were many witnesses. Thank you to everyone who shared videos and commented. If there is anyone who has not yet spoken to police but has information about the incident, please contact Squamish Police.”

The RCMP investigation into the incident, which occurred at the intersection of Pemberton Avenue and 2nd Avenue in Squamish at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22, is ongoing. The driver was arrested two blocks from the scene.

If you have any information, call the Squamish Detachment Sea to Sky RCMP at 604-892-6100.

The Squamish Chief has chosen not to include the last names of those affected in this story out of respect for the family’s privacy.