Black Ice,
Not So Nice
On February 10th, 2010, Edgar Rojas, Jenn Carr, Colin Brownlee and Colin’s assistant Justin Young, meet up at Colin’s place to travel to the Argus Kennel Club Show in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Heading to Sault Ste. Marie they meet up with one of Colin’s clients and spend the night. Their day begins the next morning following breakfast and loading 15 dogs into the cube van. Everyone is in a great mood, chatting, joking around and just having a good time. About 13 kms outside of Wawa they were going up a hill at approximately 90 km/hour when they hit black ice.
By 11:00 am, in Edgar’s words: “All hell broke loose; the black ice pulled the front of the truck towards the snow bank where we flipped 3 times. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion.” Edgar recalls seeing things flying around inside the van and he quickly thought to grab onto Jenn to keep her from going through the windshield. The van rested on its driver’s side, nose down, on the very snow-covered hill.
Once the van stopped Colin called out for Justin who had been sitting on the bench seat and they couldn’t see him. Jenn started to scream his name as did Edgar. Finally they heard Justin screaming “I’m outside but I can’t move!” Edgar was the first one out, so went around the van and spotted Justin standing up but only saw him from the waist up. Justin’s only words at that time were “my back hurts and I can’t move.” For a split second Edgar thought he had lost his legs but quickly realized that Justin was stuck and buried to the waist deep in the snow.
Edgar tried really hard to get him out of the ditch but his hands were frozen. Justin was able to throw his gloves to Edgar, who then went to the front of the van to check if Jenn and Colin had gotten out. Thankfully both were out and seemed to be okay.
Next task, see if the dogs are okay. Jenn and Edgar desperately try to open the back door of the van but can only open it enough for Jenn to crawl inside. What they saw was a complete mess, crates broken, the Siberian Husky out of his crate, pinned against the wall of the truck by a grooming table. They then noticed the 700 crate that belonged to a Golden Retriever smashed to pieces; the Golden was fine. Jenn didn’t have her glasses on and her hands were frozen so she wasn’t able to do too much. The group is grateful to the people who stopped to help open the back door enough so that Edgar too could go in and get crates out. He started passing dogs to Jenn and Colin, who passed dogs to the Ontario Police Department members, members of the public and the Wawa SPCA.
The dogs were so quiet during the whole ordeal that Edgar was sure he was going to find some dogs who didn’t survive. Edgar states, “Thank God they were all patient while we were getting them out.” After 3 hours, the last dog out was Jenn’s 3-month-old Miniature Poodle, who was under all of the ex-pens and tables and thankfully alive except for a nail pull. Thankfully all the dogs survived!
Edgar recounts “After all the dogs were out we were all, people and dogs, scattered in various vehicles with all our stuff. What a mess!! Out of all of the crates there were only 4 that were useable. We are so thankful to the OPP and Wawa SPCA for helping us out by looking after the dogs. I finally found my jacket and Jenn’s glasses, the OPP radioed U-Haul in Wawa but they wouldn't release a van to us unless we were there in person, so the OPP took me there and we were able to rent a van for $1,500 – thanks U-Haul Canada!!”
Once Edgar arrived back at the scene of the rollover, everyone helped load up so they could make the trek to see Justin in the Wawa Hospital. It was approximately 3 pm, 4 hours later. Justin ended up with a compression broken disc on his back, along with various bruises but he has 2 legs, 2 arms and most of all is ALIVE!
Edgar realized: “My ribs start to hurt, I have a bunch of bruises but oh well, I’m alive!” Colin and Jenn have lots of bumps and bruises too but are alive! I’m still shaking and find it amazing how in one second your lives can change so much.”
The group stops to pick up the dogs from the Wawa SPCA and they are very thankful to Linda, who managed to find space for all the dogs and gave them excellent care. Then off to see Justin in Wawa, only to learn that he is being flown to Sault St. Marie for a body scan, then back to the Wawa hospital later in the evening. He will then to be flown to Thunder Bay where he is going to rest for at least 6 weeks.
By 7 pm, some 8 hours after the accident, everyone is really sore and in shock. They are in Sault St. Marie where they meet up with one of Colin’s clients who was waiting with crates, dog beds and ready to help with all the dogs. Colin is off to the hospital to check on Justin. Jenn and Edgar start feeding/watering and exercising dogs. Once the group is finally done they settle down to some food and rest. The next morning they headed home, the dog show now forgotten and the most important thing on everyone’s mind: “I want to see my family!”
Canine Review would like to take this opportunity to thank Edgar, Jenn and Colin for recounting their terrifying story to us, we are thankful that everyone is okay and alive to retell their experience, we wish a speedy recovery to Justin Young, and look forward to seeing everyone again at the shows! There is also a newspaper report on the accident at wawa-news.com.