Written on October 22, 2023
As I begin write this entry, it is currently 10:21pm on Sunday, October 22nd. Exactly 3 weeks ago from this very moment, on that particular Sunday, on that particular October 1st, at a unknown time just after 10:00pm, Jenny was on the highway driving to her usual overnight shift at Arborg Personal Care Home when suddenly her life would forever change as an oncoming vehicle crossed the center line on Highway 7 and collided head on with her.
This journal entry will involve pictures from my visit to the crash site and the vehicle along with my conclusions. This entry will be a very brutal, harrowing, jarring one with pictures of the aftermath and is not for everybody.
It was a very difficult decision to go, but one I knew was necessary. I could finally compare my nightmares of what happened that night to the truth of what happened that night. I could finally see with my own eyes what Jenny went through.
The six of us that went that day were myself, my parents in one vehicle and her (best) friend/coworker Andrea, Eileen and Andrea’s husband Reynan in the other vehicle. Our destination was Clay’s Towing. It’s run by just one guy, Clay, and he was the one who was called in the middle of the night to tow both vehicles. Later on, Clay would let me know some very vital information that’s still not available to the public on what he witnessed firsthand which helped me further understand what really happened.
I still clearly remember the weather of that day during that solemn drive. It was a cold, cloudy morning with no sun in sight. There were only contrasting shades of grey filling the sky as if different sized paintbrushes just swept across the horizon, each being lit up a slightly different hue from the sun hidden beneath. It was a suitable morning that matched my thoughts as all I could think about was my recurring nightmare where I imagined what she went through that night and I knew that in just over an hour, I would be comparing my worst nightmare to the cruel reality. When we finally arrived, Andrea’s group was already waiting but had not yet entered the front door. They were waiting for me as I was the one who organized everything with Clay.
When Clay came out, he looked exactly like what I imagined him to look like. This was a man grizzled from decades of hard work. He walked with strength and pride that could only come from ceaseless years of independence. He greeted me with a firm handshake. When I looked at him, his eyes showed so much stoic experience from dealing with his line of work but I did feel his utmost sympathy when he thanked us for making the drive out there and mentioned what we were about to witness will be extremely difficult.
And he was right.
Out of the six of us, I was the last one to walk into his impound lot to see the vehicle. I remember looking at my mom as she walked towards the vehicle and her reaction when she saw it. She put her hand over her mouth and said “no one could survive this.” as she started crying. Everyone except my dad and Reynan were crying. I did try my best to be as strong as those two, but I would fail miserably.
I had to keep stepping forward. It was just around the corner, then I could finally see it. I could see what I’ve reluctantly and anxiously waited so long for. I took another step forward, and paused. Then I took another one. And then another. My heart was surprisingly still as I finally reached the corner and as I passed the corner I finally saw it.
And after just one second I turned around, walked back to the car, opened the door and before I could even sit in the car to hide it, I burst out in tears. My mom was right. No one could survive this:
Warning: Disturbing pictures of Jenny’s vehicle below
We spent a tear filled hour around the vehicle, taking pictures for reference and discussing what we could determine really happened that night. Afterwards, we would all make the drive 10 minutes north to the location where the collision took place. We parked on a dirt road separate from the highway and explored the surrounding area. We saw pieces of destroyed vehicle spread across the field on both sides. We found some belongings of Jenny, including her umbrella, her extra socks, her hat and even her headbands. We also found the detached sunroof of her vehicle just laying on the grass. It was a feeling I’ll never forget – to find pieces of your loved ones belongings scattered throughout a field among vehicle shrapnel.
Upon revisiting all of this with the current information from the RCMP and Clay himself, the following is what we six could determine.
First, the latest RCMP report confirms that after thorough investigation Jenny is not being found at fault, in any way whatsoever, for this collision.
Second, Clay himself told me that when he arrived at the scene her vehicle was not on the road at all but tossed far into the field. It was also not on its wheels but flat on the passenger side.
With all this information we could surmise the order of events that happened that night.
Jenny was driving to work in the late evening down Highway 7 which is a two-way highway. Jenny then saw an oncoming vehicle approaching from far away. As the oncoming vehicle got closer, it began crossing the center line into her lane. It must have taken Jenny a moment to register that this was actually happening because it’s something you would never expect – a vehicle is now suddenly approaching you head-on at highway speed. Jenny must have tried to enter the other lane to avoid the oncoming vehicle and attempt to save herself, but did not make it in time before the two vehicles collided.
Then, in that very instant, her world shattered.
Because of her attempt to avoid the oncoming vehicle, the point of impact on her own vehicle started from the passenger corner which meant that Jenny was able to force a very small pocket in her vehicle where a small human body would not instantly be killed upon impact. Jenny, with the last moment decision to hard swerve and attempt to avoid the oncoming vehicle also gave herself an extremely slim chance to survive.
And she did.
When the officers and paramedics arrived at the scene her vehicle was not on the road but in the field. It was not on its wheels but flat on it’s passenger side. This meant the impact was so severe that her entire vehicle had flipped and tumbled from the road into the field like an empty paper cup being tossed in the wind. How many times her vehicle flipped no one will ever know, but we do know that when it finally landed, it was on it’s passenger side.
This meant that for an unknown amount of time, starting from when the first person finally saw and reported this, to the RCMP coming to confirm it, from the call for STARS Air Ambulance to come in to when STARS actually arrived, for that entire time… Jenny must have been hanging there, suspended in the air for God knows how long. Her damaged body, barely clinging to life, had its full weight pressed against her right. She was hanging by her seatbelt being propped against protruding, destroyed vehicle parts which was the only thing keeping her body from falling even further into the mangled spikes of twisted metal. Because the forecast that night was cloudy, we also know that Jenny had to go through all of it, alone, in the darkness of night.
This ends my fifth entry of Jenny’s Journal. This was, by far, the most difficult one to write. I know it was quite delayed and I want to apologize to those who had requested this specific entry quite awhile ago and to those who kept up with this journal when I was initially writing everyday. I kept writing just to keep myself sane and cope with my new reality but as the days went by there was just too much happening all at once that I could not keep up. Thank you for understanding, thank you for coming back here, and thank you for your continued support by reading this.
Jenny's Recovery 