Driver who caused multi-vehicle crash returns to court in new year

Cheerleader’s life altered in collision

Hayley O’Connor loved cheerleading.

The Niagara teen was a member of the competitive cheerleading team at Welland Centennial Secondary School.

“I loved it,” she said. “I felt free during practices.”

Little did she know her cheerleading practice on Sept. 23, 2016, would be her last.

That night, Hayley was a passenger in a minivan that was T-boned by a vehicle driven by Joseph Berce, 55, of St. Catharines.

Hayley suffered serious injuries in the crash, including a shattered pelvis.

In Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines Wednesday, Berce pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing bodily harm. He is scheduled to return to court Jan. 7 for sentencing.

Court heard Berce was driving on Ontario Street in St. Catharines when he sideswiped two vehicles while approaching a red light at Welland Avenue.

The vehicle continued into the intersection and struck the van. It then reversed into a vehicle stopped on Fourth Avenue.

A number people were taken to hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

For Hayley, her injuries were life-altering.

“Joseph Berce is the reason to this day that I can’t properly participate in what I use to be able to do in physical education and the sports that I love,” she said. “He made the decision to get into the vehicle impaired and almost cost me my life.”

Court heard a breath sample taken from the defendant after the crash registered a reading of 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Further tests conducted by the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto estimated his blood/ alcohol level at the time of the crash to have between 70 and 150 milligrams.