2024-01-16 16:25:02
“Everyone tells me I really had a guardian angel that night,” she says, laughing softly.
It was a stormy evening when a Demers Ambulance team received the mandate to transport a pregnant woman in premature labor from the Haut-Richelieu Hospital to the Fleurimont Hospital in Sherbrooke, a journey of 140 km.
Clinical nurse Katrine Roy came on board to support the patient, since she is specialized in birth control and pediatrics.
The 23-year-old was thrown from the ambulance following the violent collision with a rock wall.
She was found in the ditch, barely conscious, with her head in the water. Under the force of the impact, the rear door of the ambulance was torn off, pinning it once morest the ground.
His condition was considered critical upon his arrival at Fleurimont Hospital in Sherbrooke. His injuries were as serious as they were multiple.
She quickly had surgery on her left arm because her humerus was deformed.
She was then prepared for brain surgery. She might also need surgery on her neck and collarbone… But her condition was so unstable and her internal organs were in such poor condition that doctors weren’t sure she would survive the operations. They feared the worst. His family too.
The young nurse was put in an artificial coma for five days to give her a chance to recover.
But Katrine Roy had not said her last word.
Miracle following miracle, she overcame the ordeals.
His fractures healed spontaneously, without surgery.
Against all odds, the nurse returned home just in time for Christmas, a month following the accident.
Today, she walks, she talks and works to regain her memory. She can do everything except wash her hair alone and drive her car, due to dizziness caused by her dysregulated vestibular system.
She still has significant following-effects. In particular, she must wear a cervical collar at all times for “at least five or six weeks”.
She will have to continue rehabilitation for several months, she said in an interview, before adding that she dreams of “putting all that aside during her party next spring.” She is already looking forward to returning to her job in maternity at the Haut-Richelieu Hospital.
Today, she does physiotherapy. The rest will be followed up with the kinesiologist, the occupational therapist, the speech therapist, the neuropsychologist… “It will last several months,” she says.
But she is optimistic, happy to be alive, determined to break down barriers. Like before the accident, that is.
Acceptance as a gift
Her strength, Katrine Roy perhaps finds it a little in the acceptance of what happened to her, in the recognition of being still very much alive too. She has no time to waste being angry with anyone or anything.
“Before leaving the hospital in Sherbrooke, I was able to go see the patient who was in the ambulance with her partner and the baby. I was happy to see them. It relieved me to see that they were okay, that they too were recovering from the accident.”
— Nurse Katrine Roy
And to close the loop, she wanted to see the paramedics once more who, that evening on Highway 10, also saw the course of their lives change.
“For me, it was important to see how the paramedics were doing and to tell them that I don’t blame them. It’s an accident, it happens, that’s all. I told one of the two paramedics to take the time to treat her injuries, but that I really hoped that she would continue to practice this beautiful profession.
— Katrine Roy
She insists on thanking everyone who helped her: passers-by who helped in the moments following the impact on the highway, the paramedics and first responders who arrived followingwards, her loved ones, then the teams from the Fleurimont Hospital of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS “who gave me wonderful care”.
The icy road thesis
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST) have closed their investigation into this matter. The accident was caused by road conditions and not by negligence or dangerous behavior.
An SQ accident reconstruction expert went to the scene to analyze the accident scene on November 19.
Kilometer 104.5 of Highway 10 is located in the center of the “most dangerous road section in Estrie” where nearly 1,000 accidents have occurred in 10 years. The “Eastman microclimate” makes road conditions easily hazardous in this sector, which is nevertheless considered “high priority” for the Quebec Ministry of Transport.
“There will be no statement of offense or prosecution filed in this case,” underlines Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Louis-Philippe Ruel.
The nurse admits that she was not strapped into the back of the ambulance because she was caring for the patient. Several accidents have occurred in the past in which paramedics standing in the rear were injured in collisions.
There is no legislative provision requiring paramedics to remain seated and restrained during transport.
“I provide training to medical personnel who will be required to accompany patients in ambulances, and I insist each time on the importance of being attached,” explained in an interview Dr. Jean-Sébastien Tremblay-Roy, director and head of the pediatrics department at the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS and at the University of Sherbrooke.
A measure that may be restrictive, “but very important,” he insisted.
The Sûreté du Québec file was transferred to the CNESST which, following analyzing and gathering information, also decided not to go any further.
The ambulance vehicle was fitted with winter tires at the time of the accident.
In an interview with Les Coops de l’information, the director of the Eastman Fire Department, Daniel Lefebvre, also confirmed that the roadway was slippery when he and his team went there to help the ambulance passengers.
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