A tent is set up in a Penticton pedestrian underpass days after a 13 year old girl was struck by a car while crossing the highway to avoid a drug user she had previously encountered in the underpass.
(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)
June 10, 2019 - 10:50 AM
PENTICTON - Penticton mom Meghan Sidorchuk is concerned that her daughter was put in harm's way because of the citywide issue of public drug use.
Sidorchuk’s 13-year-old daughter believed she saw someone shooting up in the pedestrian underpass for Skaha Lake Road Saturday, June 1, so to access the beach she crossed the busy road instead. She was struck by a car doing 60 kilometres an hour.
“She’s in pain, but she’s alive. She’s moving around like a champ. The doctor said the only reason she’s not more injured is because she chose to jump before being hit… the majority of the impact got her in the hip rather than abdomen and chest,” Sidorchuk said.
“All this because she was scared of the ‘junkie’ under the bridge. A decision to cross the highway instead of going under the underpass nearly cost my daughter her life,” Sidorchuk wrote in an email.
She’s hopeful the City of Penticton will hear her daughter’s story as they continue to assess and address the city’s drug use issues.
“To everyone who helped on scene, the staff at the hospital to everyone off the scene with all their support, kind words, thoughts and prayers she’s been receiving, thank you. She is one lucky kid to have all this love surround her,” Sidorchuk said.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2019