Special Needs Folks Are Amazing Says Jos Van Hage
Saturday, March 2, 2013 @ 12:40 PM
Prince George, B.C. – Relatives of a group of athletes and coaches who were involved in a fatal accident near Cache Creek are relieved to learn their loved ones are fine.
A charter bus transporting a group of Special Olympians and coaches from Prince George and Quesnel to Kelowna for the weekend was hit by a car about 15 kilometres east of Cache Creek Friday afternoon. The car burst into flame following the collision, its driver trapped inside the wreckage. The driver died at the scene. The people aboard the bus were taken to hospital in Kamloops to be checked out. All are fine save for a few bumps and bruises. They have now gone on to Kelowna for a weekend of training and fun competition in various winter sport activities.
Prince George businessman Jos Van Hage was certainly glad to get the news that everyone on the bus escaped serious injury. His wife Wilma and daughter Alycia are coaches with the team while his other daughter Marinka is an athlete. He says his wife was sitting right at the front of the bus, adjacent to the driver. “She said she saw the car coming and she couldn’t believe that the car never really tried to get out of the way, and the bus driver stepped on the brake which kept the bus on the road. She said when the car hit it hit so hard that it exploded right in front of us and then bounced off the bus. She flew out of the seat and hit the window. The window popped out but she stayed inside the bus. It was very, very fortunate that that happened.”
Van Hage says the very first instant that the people on the bus saw the car, it was already in their lane, coming straight for them. “She said she saw the thing coming and it never even tried to move out of the way. She was very surprised about it.” He could not say if the impact occurred on a straight stretch of a curve. He says his wife was not seriously hurt. “She got a little bit cut from the glass and she’s a little bruised in the ribs. Everybody went to the hospital in Kamloops to get checked out and they released everybody last night. My daughter, Marinka, her arm is in a sling and there’s one other athlete who has something wrong with them. But they got a new bus and carried on last night to Kelowna but probably didn’t get in until about 12 midnight.”
However, Van Hage says the team is out competing today at the Winter Snow Festival in Kelowna. “You know it’s amazing these special needs kids, they just carry on with their lives, you know. They take it different than we do some times.” He says the team will be home Sunday night as planned, getting into Prince George around 12pm.
RCMP traffic investigators are trying to ascertain what led to the collision on Highway 1. The gender, identity and home town of the car driver have not been determined.
Comments
I am so relieved to hear that the athletes and coaches on the bus are okay. Thank goodness they were in a bus and not a car. RIP to the driver who passed.
Well said bornandbred. So sorry for the driver and family; blessing no one else was seriously hurt. Kudos to the volunteers and competitors….good luck!
Very glad to hear this news.
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