The mother of a Vancouver Island cyclist killed in a hit and run last month is thanking the passerby who found her son and stayed with him until first responders arrived.
“It really made me feel good when I met him, knowing that someone was there for my son because if he wouldn’t have turned around and came back … they wouldn’t have probably found Rodney until the morning,” Laurie Brong told Global News.
“I am just so grateful for that because you don’t want to die alone.”
Rod Kelly, 54, was struck and killed on Feb. 8 as he rode his bicycle in the evening on Comox Valley Parkway near Courtenay.
He was located by Dave Nuttall, who was driving home from work and saw a flashlight sticking up in a ditch, and turned around to investigate.
“I thought it wasn’t such a bad accident at first,” Nuttall told Global News.
“It wasn’t until I actually got a good look at his bike that I realized this had to have been a bad accident because the bike was mangled, the wheels were folded, the frame was bent.”
Nuttall said he spoke with Kelly, who was in shock and didn’t realize what had happened to him.
Other drivers stopped and lent Kelly a jacket while Nuttall called 911, then stayed to keep him conscious and talking until an ambulance arrived.
“I am a little surprised he didn’t make it. He was conscious enough to know his name and be alert, but his head injury looked pretty bad,” he said.
“I think he said (he was OK), but obviously he wasn’t.”
Brong has since met with Nuttall, and told Global News that while her heart is still broken over her son’s death, knowing someone was with him in his final moments has brought her some joy.
“He was tired, going home from work, and he stopped, he said it just didn’t look right…. It just melted my heart,” she said.
“He has brought me lots of comfort that my son had someone there like that.”
RCMP arrested a suspect two days after the deadly collision, and Steven Squires, 45, has been charged with first-degree murder and failing to stop after an accident causing death.
Brong said she is hoping the trial will answer unanswered questions about her son’s death, including motive.
“I’m not looking forward to the court cases, but I wouldn’t miss one. I will make my appointments around them just so I can be there,” Brong said.
Nuttall, meanwhile, told Global News he doesn’t think he did anything special.
“I didn’t really expect much gratitude. I just pulled over to call 911 like I thought anyone would do. So it’s a nice feeling,” he said.
“I think it helps a little bit in this bad time for her.”
— with files from Rumina Daya
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