A 23-year-old Duncan man has suffered what RCMP are calling “severe life threatening injuries” but is expected to recover thanks to the efforts of a trio of hockey players and an off duty nurse following a car crash on Highway 18 west of Hall Road on Friday, Dec. 11.
The incident occurred just a few minutes after 11 p.m.
The Edmonton-based hockey players were travelling back to Lake Cowichan to pick up a wallet they’d left behind when out of nowhere, they saw the red and white lights of a vehicle coming towards them.
They soon realized the 1991 Subaru Loyale was actually flipping through the air.
The station wagon flipped an undetermined number of times, police said, before coming to rest in a field.
The driver was thrown from the vehicle.
“It is believed he was not wearing his seatbelt,” said North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Krista Hobday.
Good fortune arrived when an off duty emergency room nurse stopped to assist in the roadside first aid, Hobday said.
The driver was air lifted to Victoria General Hospital for advanced treatment where he remains in the intensive care unit in serious condition.
It is now believed he will survive his injuries, Hobday said.
“What may have been a fatal motor vehicle collision has the potential for a positive outcome,” she added. “If the hockey players had not been on the road at that time, the vehicle and driver may not have been found for a very long time.”
Hobday said alcohol and speed have not been eliminated as factors in the crash.
The incident is still under investigation and more information and evidence are being gathered with the assistance of a traffic reconstructionist from South Island Traffic Services.
“We cannot stress enough as the holiday season is upon us, to buckle up, drive according to road conditions, and stay sober, alert, and distraction free,” Hobday said. “Everyone using the roads depends on all drivers to be paying attention.”