The mother jumped out of her car in front of her children when she was hit by a truck fleeing the scene in Montérégie. She is still in a coma and may never wake up.
“We don’t know if one day she will wake up from her coma. It could be tomorrow, it could never be. She’s breathing on her own, but doctors don’t know if she’ll regain consciousness,” a Sûreté du Québec (SQ) investigator said this morning at the Saint-Hyacinthe courthouse.
Harjot Singh, the young truck driver involved in the violent collision, faces five counts of hit-and-run and bodily harm.
The 20-year-old Ontario man is currently being investigated on bail. Crown prosecutor Me Émilie Gabdois is refusing his release pending trial.
The witnesses and victims in this case cannot be identified due to a court order.
Seriously hurt
On the evening of July 5, Singh failed to make a mandatory stop on 5th Avenue in Saint-Hélène-de-Bagot and crashed into the small family’s minivan. According to a reconstructor, he would never have braked.
The two untied parents were thrown out of the vehicle in front of their three children. The 27-year-old mother landed in a ditch and her husband landed in the middle of the asphalt.
The 29-year-old father suffered severe head trauma, as well as a perforated spleen and broken ribs, investigators said. The 10-year-old has a broken knee and the other 5-year-old has bruises on his pelvis from the belt. The youngest, 4 years old, has a broken wrist.
“For my sister, we have no choice but to remain hopeful. The smallest little thing, like when she opens and closes her eye, helps us move forward and keeps hope that things will get better,” confided the Journal a sister of the victim who was present at the hearing.
Like breadcrumbs…
For his part, the Indian-born student would never have slowed down after the collision, nor did he stop to help them.
Thanks to witnesses who immediately called 911, police were able to quickly locate the driver just 12 kilometers away on Highway 20 near Saint-Eugène-de-Grantham.
The driver of the heavy-duty truck stopped about 12 kilometers from the collision in the Saint-Hélène-de-Bagot sector. PHOTO Eric Beaupré / Vingt55
Under the force of the impact, the axle of his truck, which was carrying a 25,000-pound load, broke. On its way, it left two black tracks on the road, the investigator explained.
A reconstructor could thus follow the tracks “like breadcrumbs” to confirm the path he had taken after his escape.
Upon arrest, Harjot Singh reportedly said he had called 911 to report the clash. However, this would be completely wrong according to the SQ investigator’s checks. The one, who has no criminal record, only held a valid heavy-duty driver’s license since March of last year.
The bail investigation will continue in the afternoon before Judge Jean-Philippe Marcoux.
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