**** RCMP Media Release
RCMPNS is sharing first responders’ experiences this week to highlight the importance of road safety in remembrance of road crash victims.
Here is Nova Scotia RCMP Collision Reconstructionist Cpl. Corey Ford’s story:
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I will never forget that winter day in March 2000. I was driving my Ford Thunderbird on the Trans Canada Highway from Gander to St. John’s, NL to see my wife. I was getting closer to an area with cell coverage and was looking forward to calling my wife to let her know where I was when I caught a glimpse of a vehicle headed directly towards me. The sound of metal on metal followed.
My car struck a guard rail, slid sideways and the next thing I knew I was upside down with everything in the car all around me. The vehicle had flipped onto the roof and was in the middle of the highway. I knew my foot was injured badly and I knew I needed to get out of the car. I took off my seatbelt and managed to crawl out the window.
The vehicle that struck me was carrying two occupants when they hit ice in the opposite lane and slid across the highway hitting me head on. One of the occupants was ejected, the other trapped inside. When first responders arrived, we were transported to hospital where I would find out that I needed surgery for my foot. Thankfully everyone survived.
As a Collision Reconstructionist, I have been to several serious and fatal collisions and know first-hand the impacts that come from not wearing a seatbelt. I believe that had I not been wearing a seatbelt that day, I would not have survived.
Although my physical injury eventually healed, the emotional impacts that resulted from that moment for me and my family would last years.
