A woman from the Campbellton area had a narrow escape while trying to reach her daughter who was about to give birth in Bathurst, New Brunswick. In the middle of the night, she hit a moose on Highway 11.
The arrival of her first grandson should have been a happy event for Amanda Johnson. But this magical moment almost turned tragic when she collided with a moose shortly after 3 a.m. on Sunday night, near Charlo.
The new grandmother wanted to share her misadventure to raise awareness of the situation experienced by people in her region, with the loss of obstetrics services at the Campbellton Regional Hospital and the safety issues on the roads of the North, especially on Highway 11.
This misadventure began around 2:40 a.m., when she was awakened by her pregnant daughter, who was about to give birth at the Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst. Her daughter would normally have given birth in Campbellton, but she had to travel to Bathurst for obstetrics services.
A dark and misty night
After going for a coffee, Amanda Johnson, who lives in Pointe-à-la-Croix, Quebec, took Route 11 in Campbellton towards Bathurst, she said in a long message posted on Facebook Monday.
” I am immediately uncomfortable. It’s foggy. It’s dark and strange with hardly any cars in sight. I drive slower than usual and have a firm grip on the wheel. That fresh coffee in the cup holder smells so good, but I dare not take my eyes off the road to take a sip. “
I relaxed my shoulders and took a deep breath. I will soon meet my first grandsonshe rejoiced inwardly.
The sequel would decide otherwise.
She saw at the last second a dark mass before the shock. The worst view possibleshe confessed.
The sound the moose made when it hit my truck [du côté passager], the air bag exploding, the pain I felt in both my wrists, the stinging and burning sensations of the air bag hitting me at full speed, the belt keeping me stuck in my seat. I can’t untie it and it hurts me she says in her message.
The emergency call
When Amanda Johnson came to her senses, she realized what had just happened.
She felt it was very dark, it was very quiet and she felt very lonely in the middle of the woods on Route 11 with a dead animal next to my truck, she continues.
She called 911 shortly after 3:30 a.m.
I was scared and in pain. The windows had broken and the bugs were eating mesaid the victim of this incident.
Meanwhile, the baby’s other grandparents were the first to arrive at the scene of the accident, as they were also on their way to Bathurst Hospital to meet their grandson.
Arrival of help
The sight and sound of the ambulance with its lights and sirens was music to my ears. The police were not far behind. Soon the firefighters arrived and a tow truck too. They certainly all had a lot of questions for me as they tried to put the pieces together while assessing my injuries.says Amanda Johnson.
” Amidst the chaos, I get the message that the baby arrived at 3:48 a.m. He is healthy and beautiful. My daughter is doing well. Everything went perfectly, although faster than expected. “
Even if the story ends well on the whole, the new grandmother has difficulty understanding why the people of her region are forced to put themselves in such a situation.
What is happening to our health care? What’s going on with our roads and highways here in the North? We have lost many services in our hospital [de Campbellton] once fully equipped and we no longer have access to manpower.
We are forced to Bathurst and if you have ever driven this road you know there is no fence [de protection contre les orignaux] adequate. There is a 35 km stretch of highway without a fence and it is a heavily forested area. Countless accidents have happened on this particular road. Injuries have occurred, deaths have occurred and there have been many near misses including myselfshared Amanda Johnson.
She says she had to choose between a sport utility vehicle, to save gas, or a safer truck, to get to Bathurst. His decision to take the truck may have saved his life.
What will happen next?
This incident, which could have had a much more dramatic turn, rekindled the worst fears of Yves Goudreau, paramedic and longtime activist for the installation of animal fences on Highway 11 between Campbellton and Bathurst.
He recently collected more than 4,000 signatures, some time after a young motorcyclist died after hitting a moose near Charlo, to convince the provincial government to invest in such fencing.
According to him, the Prime Minister told him not to travel at night on this road.
” It brings back my worries. It shows how quickly such an accident can happen. It also shows that people have to travel on this road at night, even if our Prime Minister does not want it. It’s impossible. We all know it will happen again. The next one will have what consequences? Will he die of it? It’s my worst fear. “
Yves Goudreau mentions that motorists in the North have as much right to this protection as those in the South, where the roads already have these fences.
He also intends to use this new incident to remind the Prime Minister and the members of the North on the importance of installing these fences all along Highway 11 between Campbellton and Bathurst.
With information from Serge Bouchard
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
