A 47-year-old man is still believed to be fighting for his life in the Royal Alexander Hospital in Edmonton after he rolled his SUV into a pond near Highway 56 on Canada Day. A bystander phoned 911.
According to the police, the driver struck an approach on the east side of Highway 56 and rolled his SUV down an incline, through a fence and into a pond.
“He should be glad he hit the water,” Sgt. Duncan Babchuk of Stettler RCMP said. The sergeant noted that speed was likely a factor, given the fact the vehicle travelled 150 yards and through a fence.
The water absorbed some of the vehicle’s momentum, bringing it to a stop.
The driver was not submerged as the vehicle landed on its tires in the pond, Babchuk said.
Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life and cut off the vehicle’s door and peel back its roof to extricate the driver, who was then airlifted by STARS to the Royal Alexander Hospital in Edmonton with life-threatening injuries.
According to police, there were also two pet dogs travelling inside the vehicle with the driver. One was dead on scene while the other survived.
The cause of the collision, which happened on a straight stretch of highway, is unknown, as is the condition of the driver.
Stettler RCMP cells host to Bashaw festival-goers
Three Bashaw-area residents missed out on much of the Tail Creek Mud and Music Festival held last weekend, June 27-29, after being admitted to the Stettler hospital for drug overdoses.
Once stabilized, the patients were placed in the RCMP detachments cells until they sobered up.