A day after the husband of the woman injured in a South Edmonton hit-and-run asked the driver of the vehicle to turn himself into police, the other pedestrian involved in the collision shared his ordeal with CTV News.
“I didn’t see anything coming,” Gerry Boudrias, 64, said. “I didn’t hear skid or braking. No lights – just right out of the blue.”
Edmonton police said the two pedestrians stepped off an ETS bus around 5 p.m., walked through a crosswalk in the area of 96 Street and 71 Avenue and were struck by a white van travelling south.
“Next thing I knew, there was a vehicle stopping and commotion for people and ambulance and fire trucks on the way,” Boudrias said. “The ambulance attendant told me I was knocked about 20 feet.”
The 64-year-old said he suffered four broken ribs, three broken vertebrae and a broken collarbone.
“What I’m really concerned about is the long-term status of my spine,” he said.
Boudrias was released from the hospital last Sunday and has not left his home since.
“I’m supposed to be sitting in a beach in Mexico right now in 31-degree weather,” Boudrias said. “Instead, I’m sitting up at night trying to sleep. I can’t even lie down.”
The husband of the 49-year-old woman injured in the crash – she was released from the hospital on Thursday – urged the driver to “step up and do the right thing.” Boudrias is hoping for the same.
“I think the decent thing to do would be to own up for making a mistake and come forward,” Boudrias said. “They’re going to be spending Christmas with their family and I’m going to be on painkillers.”
EPS is still searching for the vehicle and the driver. They said the van is believed to be a Chevrolet or GMC Savannah, from 2013 or newer, without a roof rack or rear windows.
Anyone with information about this hit-and-run is asked to contact Edmonton police at 780-423-4567. If you want to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
With files from Nahreman Issa
