Young teacher struck by watercraft in coma
Police seize vessels, hunt for man who fled after striking kindergarten teacher
Kristin Delaney is trying to stay positive while her older sister Casey, a 26-year-old kindergarten teacher and avid athlete, is in an induced coma at The Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus after she was struck by a personal watercraft Sunday on the Gatineau River.
“She’s stable right now. She’s as good as she can be right now,” Kristin, 24, said Tuesday. “That being said, we don’t know when she’ll wake up.
“She’s really the strongest person that I know, and … if anyone can get through this, it’s her.”
The Delaney sisters were enjoying a quintessential Canada Day weekend — an annual camping trip — when things went horribly wrong.
Casey was tanning with friends on the river near l’Île Patry, about 25 kilometres south of Maniwaki, when a stranger on a personal watercraft approached her inflatable raft, Kristin said.
“From the sounds of it he was trying to impress the girls, make waves in the water, try to splash them or something.”
“He came in too fast and he hit her in the head and fled the scene. He didn’t come back.”
The Sûreté du Québec is treating the incident as a hit-and-run.
On Tuesday, police spokesman Sgt. Marc Tessier confirmed two watercraft believed to have been involved in the incident had been found near Bouchette, but police had yet to locate the owners.
“We did locate two personal watercraft and they were seized,” Tessier said. “A nautical collision investigation will be done on the watercraft. We are expecting to do some arrests, but I can’t say when.”
Kristin, who was sitting at a nearby picnic table when her sister was struck, heard friends screaming and someone say that Casey had been hurt. She was pulled off the raft, and her boyfriend Scott Labrosse, a former lifeguard, performed CPR.
“He was amazing in that situation,” Kristin recalled.
Casey was rushed to hospital, where she was diagnosed with a fractured skull, trauma to the brain and internal bleeding, Kristin said.
She underwent brain surgery Monday morning and remained in an induced coma Tuesday to allow for her healing.
As the week progresses, doctors will look at when they should wake her up, Kristin said. For now, there are a lot of unknowns.
“We can’t say what the recovery process will look like, or what sort of damage really this has done to her physically or mentally. That’s something we will learn in time, likely after she wakes up.”
Casey is vigorously active, Kristin said, from soccer and volleyball to dragon-boat racing and yoga.
“She’s the most positive person that I know,” she said, and “so amazing with kids.”
Casey teaches kindergarten at St. Bernard School in Gloucester.
Mardi de Kemp, a spokeswoman for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, issued a statement on behalf of the St. Bernard community.
“The thoughts of our education community are with Casey and her family as we pray for a full recovery. Wellness counselling is being offered to her OCSB friends and colleagues.”
A GoFundMe page was set up Monday in Casey ’s name, with donations going toward helping her and Labrosse with any expenses they face (they share a home in the Alta Vista area). By 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, the campaign had generated nearly $10,000 from almost 200 people — far surpassing its $2,500 goal — in the 21 hours since it launched.
“It’s been overwhelming, the amount of support that we’ve received,” Kristin said. “It’s helping the family. And our positivity, I think, reflects on her.”