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Motorcycle crash victims thankful to be alive

Charges being considered against pickup truck driver.
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Photo contributed April Pellerin Enns and Cory Enns of Edmonton were involved in a motorcycle crash at the Balmoral Road Intersection with the Trans-Canada Highway on Friday July 21.

Life may never be the same for an Edmonton couple who were involved in a crash while on a motorcycle trip through the Shuswap.

Cory Enns and April Pellerin Enns were on an extended motorcycle tour through Alberta, the United States and southern B.C. when they were involved in a collision with a pickup truck at the Balmoral road intersection with the Trans-Canada Highway.

Speaking to the Market News from her hospital bed at Vernon Jubilee Hospital, April says she was thrown onto the hood of the pickup truck, while Cory was left on the road with the motorcycle on top of him.

After being tended to by first responders and being transported by ambulance to Shuswap Lake General Hospital, Cory was airlifted to Kamloops and April was transferred to Vernon.

“I have real life heroes. Some of them in the medical field and some just people doing the right thing by helping out a terrified girl and letting her hold their hand,” April said.

She said a witness named Ken Bisonette held her hand and kept her conscious after the crash.

“He stayed with me until the paramedics came. I will never forget his voice or his face,” she said.

According to the RCMP Cory and April were travelling west on the Trans-Canada Highway when the truck pulled across the highway into their path resulting in the collision.

The driver of the truck, a 75-year-old woman from Blind Bay was taken to hospital with minor injuries; the passenger in the truck was not injured.

The RCMP say their investigation is ongoing and charges against the driver of the pickup truck are being considered but have not been laid yet.

In an online comment April left on an earlier Salmon Observer story, she said was told by ambulance personnel that the Balmoral intersection is often the site of accidents. She said she hopes the government will add lights to the intersection or make other improvements.

April has four broken ribs and a dislocated knee; she has already undergone two surgeries.

“It’s difficult to move but I’m lucky to be alive,” she said.

Cory also sustained serious injuries in the crash. According to April he has a damaged spleen, a broken shoulder, six broken ribs, a broken pelvis and some road rash.



Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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