Airdronian Aimee Weber received a worrying phone call from her son’s employer last week on Wednesday. Her son, who lives in Calgary, had not shown up to work for a few days. 

“That's not like him at all. He's [all] work, work; that’s his whole life. Immediately, I knew something was wrong. We phoned the police to do a wellness check,” she said. 

What Weber didn’t know at the time is that her 25-year-old son had been struck by two cars. According to a Calgary Police Service (CPS) press release: 

Sometime between 5:50 and 6:20 A.M. on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, a man had been crossing at the intersection of 11 Avenue and 27 Street S.E., in a marked crosswalk, when he was struck by a truck. The driver of the truck stopped, but before he could attend to the fallen pedestrian, CCTV footage showed that a second westbound vehicle struck the unconscious pedestrian lying on the road and failed to stop. 

“All I know is from what I've read. He was going to work when he was struck; he was clipped with the mirror of the truck. The truck driver didn't see him and then the truck driver got out and called 911 and stayed with him making sure he was okay until the police and ambulance came,” said Weber. 

When Calgary police called Weber and her husband back, the police officer responding to her wellness check request happened to be the same one who had responded to the scene of her son's hit-and-run.  

“They [emergency crews] had his health care card, but they didn't really check his wallet too much. His I.D. was behind his bus pass, so they had him at the hospital as unknown, “she said. “When we phoned didn’t know who to look for.” 

The CPS officer was able to discern where Weber’s son was and so she and her husband rushed to the hospital. 

“He didn't really know who I was till Friday and now he knows who I am. He's getting better. It's going to be a really long rehabilitation.” 

Weber’s son had surgery yesterday to repair facial bones and he will undergo an MRI as he continues to experience memory loss.  

“But he's alive. The only thing that makes my day is when I walk into his room and he's smiling at me.” 

Weber said that part of the reason she didn’t immediately know about her son’s accident is that it is not uncommon for the family to talk to one another every few days, what with her son’s busy work schedule as an apprentice plumber. 

“We were getting ready to do a missing person's report.”  

Weber said that she bears no ill will towards the truck driver who initially hit her son. 

“Even though he was the first to hit him, he did the right thing and he stayed and he made sure that [my son] was safe and that someone was with him until help came,” Weber said. “And for the other driver; You are going to get what you deserve. People make mistakes, but you just got to own up to it. [They] could have killed somebody. How would [they] feel if that was [their] family member or friend and someone hit them and drove away?” 

Though there is joy at knowing her son has pulled through, Weber admits it has been a harrowing time. 

“I guess [I’m on] autopilot; you do what you have to. I get up every morning and I go see him and I stay with him and he does his therapy and then his father goes to see him in the evening.” 

Though Weber mentioned that police did relay to her the second vehicle was found, Discover Airdrie was not able to independently confirm this with CPS. According to the press release, “Investigators are searching for the driver of the second vehicle, described as a smaller orange, crossover-style SUV.” 

According to an Alberta Traffic Collision Statistics report in 2018, “47.1 per cent of the drivers in casualty collisions involving a pedestrian were recorded as failing to yield the right of way to the pedestrian.” 

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