Woman sees van hit pregnant friend.
Woman thrown into ditch 10 metres away
HALIFAX — Sarah McCarthy was watching her best friend walk across Herring Cove Road on Monday night from her living room window at the corner of Woodcrest Drive in Spryfield when a van tore through the crosswalk and struck Sarah Richardson, throwing the 33-year-old woman, who is pregnant with twins, almost 10 metres.
Richardson had been walking home at 7:20 p.m. after visiting her younger sister, who lives nearby.
“I was looking out my window, I waved at her, she went to cross and this white van — I don’t know where it came from — but it came as fast I’ve ever seen something go, and it threw her 25 or 30 feet right into a ditch,” McCarthy said Friday.
“It knocked one of her shoes off her feet … I can’t even close my eyes — all I see is the tail-end of her feet and her purse go flying.”
'BAD MESS'
At first McCarthy thought Richardson, already a mother of four, could not have survived the impact.
“I didn’t think she was alive,” McCarthy said.
“It sounded like (the van) hit a power pole.”
But when she reached her friend Richardson was still breathing and able to respond.
The accident left Richardson with damaged vertebrae, a lacerated liver, kidney damage and bleeding around her placenta, McCarthy said.
“She’s a bad mess,” McCarthy said.
“They’re kind of hoping to carry her along as far as they can (with the pregnancy).”
TWINS DUE IN SPRING
Richardson is only a little over 16 weeks into her pregnancy and the twins aren’t due to be born until spring.
She’s been told to stay in her hospital bed, said her friend. “They may even keep her the rest of her pregnancy.”
Richardson has been at the QEII hospital since Monday, with her disabled husband of 16 years visiting every day.
“She’s in agonizing pain, non-stop, 24 hours a day,” McCarthy said.
Richardson is determined she’ll recover, said her friend. “She believes she can overcome anything. She’ll weather this one real well.”
Richardson’s other four children range in age from eight to 14.
DANGEROUS INTERSECTION
Halifax Regional Police ticketed the 39-year-old man who was driving the van that struck Richardson for failing to yield to pedestrian within a marked crosswalk and failing to carry valid insurance.
McCarthy said the intersection where her friend was hit is dangerous because cars don’t tend to stop for pedestrians, she said.
McCarthy wants crosswalk lights installed at the intersection of Herring Cove Road and Woodcrest Avenue. If that doesn’t happen, she said the neighbourhood will take action.
“I’m gathering a group of people from our community and I’m barricading the street,” McCarthy said.
She’s started a GoFundMe page for her friend, who normally works as a server in a restaurant. She’s aiming to raise $ 2,000 to help the family.
Any donation would help, McCarthy said, even a dollar. "Even a donated gift card. They’re not people that go looking for handouts. But they’re going to need some help. This is going to be a long, long road.”