“A miracle,” is how Gord Jaggs describes an astonishing accident he came upon on his way to work at city hall Friday morning.
It appeared that at about 8 a.m. a van heading west on Bridgeport Road at the Airport Connector Bridge missed the curve and plowed through a four-foot-high cement barrier ‑‑ sending chunks of rebar-enforced concrete flying across five lanes of traffic on Russ Baker way ‑‑ collided with another vehicle, heading northeast on the Russ Baker Way off ramp, rolled down the embankment and landed on its roof by the side of Russ Baker Way at Miller Road.
When Jaggs pulled up behind the smoking van, another motorist was already approaching it with a fire extinguisher.
“There was a huge column of smoke coming out and already about five or six people standing around,” said Jaggs. “It had just happened; there were no fire trucks, no ambulance, no first responders had got there yet,” he added.
As the motorist with the fire extinguisher quelled the possibility of an explosion, Jaggs said he went up to the passenger window to attend to the driver, who was conscious, albeit in shock, and hanging by his seat belt. The driver then pressed the release on his seat belt and fell onto the roof of the van.
“We talked to him, and there was someone speaking Mandarin, but he wasn’t saying much. He was clearly in shock. We didn’t want to take him out in case there was a neck or spinal injury,” said Jaggs, the City of Richmond’s tree preservation coordinator.
And now for the miracle.
A little boy (thought to be about five years old) who was also in the van appeared to have been thrown out of the smashed sunroof and onto the road.
“He was hysterical, which at least let us know he was conscious and breathing. Also he was moving around so there were no broken bones.”
Within minutes of hitting the pavement, the child was surrounded by an off-duty physician, an off-duty nurse and Jaggs, an off-duty city worker, who has extensive first aid training.
The team wrapped him in a blanket, tried to get the shards of glass from around his eyes and out of his mouth.
“He had a big bump on his forehead and it looked like his teeth were knocked out. He was covered in blood, but that might have been from his dad. We just kept talking to him and telling him his dad was alright, and he started to calm down.”
After the child was packed into the ambulance, the attendant told the group, ‘this little guy had the best first aid team you could dream of,’ Jaggs recalled.
Richmond RCMP stated the driver and child were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, adding that police are continuing their investigation and believe speed may have been a factor.
But according to Jaggs, “the really amazing thing about this was just how everyone came together. There was no one just driving by. So many people were there and ready to help.”
