It was a glorious late summer morning, other than the fact it was my first day back from two weeks of holidays.
I left the house shortly after 8 a.m. on Tuesday and walked north along Arthur Drive toward our office in Ladner Village. I got to the corner of Ladner Trunk a few minutes later and pressed the pedestrian button.
While I waited for the light to change, I glanced to the east and saw a woman waiting to cross Trunk on the other side of Arthur Drive.
I thought nothing of it and when the walk signal indicated it was my turn to go, I proceeded across the street. By the time I made it to the curb, I could see a commotion just a few paces east of the other crosswalk.
Peeking around a car now stopped in the intersection, I could see a figure lying on the ground. Not immediately recognizing it was the woman I had spied just seconds earlier, I watched as people got out of their vehicles and wondered exactly what had taken place. As they went to offer assistance, I soon realized the woman had been struck.
It was a sickening feeling to see someone lying prone on the asphalt, but it was also heartening to watch Good Samaritans jump into action.
Although a pedestrian-vehicle collision never favours the two-legged entry, I must admit that from my distance it didn't look like the outcome was too serious. The car was making a turn from a complete stop, so I reasoned it simply couldn't have been going very quickly.
I carried on to the office and had one of the reporters check with the police about the incident as well as a second pedestrian accident at the same time a few blocks further east on Trunk at 55B Street. What we were told about the Arthur Drive collision - a possible concussion - seemed to jibe with my observations.
The following afternoon, however, a press release arrived via email from the police department. My heart sank when I read the subject line: Delta Police Seek Witness(es) to fatal pedestrian collision. Please be a misprint, I hoped. Tragically, it wasn't.
I called the investigating officer and told her what I could, but it all seemed so surreal. Here was a woman standing at the corner one moment, yet in the next she's fighting a losing battle for her life. It's so terribly sad. My heart goes out to the victim and her family as well as to the driver, who will also suffer greatly.
It took just the blink of an eye to irrevocably change the lives of so many. That is tragic indeed.
