The mother of a girl who was struck by a car in a Courtenay crosswalk implores anyone who saw the accident to come forward.
Nancy Guhl’s 11-year-old daughter Ellie was crossing Lerwick Avenue when she was struck by a car turning left onto Lerwick from the shopping mall. Ellie and a friend were walking from the Aquatic Centre side of the crosswalk. The incident occurred around 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct 21.
“There was a gentleman pulling out of the Home Depot parking lot turning left, and he hit my daughter,” Guhl said. “No one’s coming forward that they witnessed it.”
She notes, however, that one person came forward through her Facebook attempts to find witnesses.
“The witness said she went up on the hood and landed on her feet. So she walked off the road. He (driver) left the scene, he did not stay with my daughter. He did an illegal u-turn to get to where my daughter was, and he says he asked my daughter how she was (before he left).”
Some time later, she said two samaritans in a car turned around and stayed with Ellie until Guhl arrived.
“My daughter has broken her ankle before, and she walked on it all day and didn’t cry, so she has a huge pain tolerance, unfortunately. I need to know how she got hit, because I want to make sure she gets everything she needs, emotionally and physically. She’s a competitive soccer player and she does dance.”
Ellie has air casts on both feet and is in a wheelchair for the time being.
“It was an unfortunate incident,” Comox Valley RCMP Const. Monika Terragni said. “But we received reports from both parties. It was not a hit-and-run. If anyone did witness it, they’re more than welcome to give us a call. But we did speak with both parties.”
Witnesses can call the Comox Valley RCMP at (250) 338-1321. Quote file number 202017235.