WINNIPEG — To this day Lindsay Johnston isn’t sure why she decided to stay at work when her shift at Ultracuts was over, but she has no regrets.
“I’m thankful every day I did, so that Kendall wasn’t alone,” says Johnston.
On April 7, 2012, an SUV driven by Adebola Shoyoye crossed eight lanes of traffic on Portage Avenue, and cut through a parking lot, before slamming through the front window of the hair salon. Kendall Wiebe was struck first, then Johnston.
READ MORE: Winnipeg driver who killed hairdresser as she worked to serve weekends in jail
“I was supposed to be done at five but for some odd reason I said ‘I’m going to stay with you’. And I was straightening my last piece of hair and I turned to Kendall and said ‘how does it look? And then boom, it was like a bomb went off, like a tornado went through the building.”
The now 28-year-old says the car hit her so hard her shoes were knocked right off.
“I remember Kendall screaming, Lindsay where are you and that’s when I woke up. She was more concerned with my well being than her own,” said Johnston. “I remember tasting blood, and these men were picking me up. It felt like my insides were falling out and my biggest concern was Kendall.”
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Both were rushed to hospital, but it would be a full day before Johnston would learn what happened to her friend.
“When I said to mom ‘where is Kendall’ I could tell something was wrong by the look on her face.”
So Johnston checked herself out of hospital and went to the hospital Wiebe was at. She got there just before Wiebe died.
“I got to say goodbye,” said Johnston.
Three years later she is still struggling with nightmares and chronic pain. The crash badly damaged Johnston’s right leg, and her ribs, back and arms still regularly ache.
“Physically its day-to-day where I can’t even get out of bed.”
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She spent about 18 months off work but was determined to get back to the job she loves. Amazingly she returned to the same Ultracuts where the crash occurred.
“I worked with them for many years….they stood by my side.”
But Johnston says she’s still startled by loud noises, and looks regularly through the front window to make sure everything is okay.
“Even when I don’t want to think about it, it still goes back to that day, what could have been,” said Johnston. “It frustrates me thinking this man can go across eight lanes of traffic, not hit a single person in the parking lot and swerve into the one building that’s still open. It doesn’t make sense.”
Last month the driver was sentenced to 90 days in jail, time he can serve on weekends, and was also prohibited from driving for eight years.
READ MORE: Driver pleads guilty in Winnipeg salon crash that killed hairdresser
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