An Edmonton girl who was hit by a truck more than a week ago will have a long road to recovery, her family tells Global News.
On the morning of June 15, 11-year-old Joanne Sisson was biking to Velma E. Baker School when she was hit by a truck on 28 Street and 43A Avenue.
Her father John Sisson said he was “thunderstruck” when he got the call at work that the grade six student had been in a collision.
“She’s lying there and she’s obviously in distress. We have her medically sedated. You just don’t know what to think really,” he said.
Sisson describes the mood when he arrived at the hospital as grim.
“They come in and lay out the odds of what’s going to happen. When you hear there’s a chance she might not survive…this is the one big moment everybody dreads in their life.”
Joanne was taken to the hospital in critical condition. She is currently in the ICU though there is no timeline on when she will be discharged.
“The serious internal injuries are stabilizing. The main concern right now is the damage that she’s taken to her skin from the asphalt. She’s obviously got some areas where the skin can’t be saved,” he said.
Mother Ivy Chung said Joanne will need to have some skin grafts.
“You can see the bone. On her right thigh, there is no skin either so you can see some muscle missing so you can see through. Also on the left hand side near the waist, it also has no skin and bigger wounds than the right side.”
The family bikes frequently and Chung said Joanne often bikes to school. They said Joanne only recently told them what happened from her perspective – her breathing tube was removed a couple days ago.
The 11-year-old said she came up to the corner where the garbage truck was already sitting. Sisson said his daughter did not see any indicators and thought the truck was going to make a right turn.
“When she was in position where she was on the left side, the truck suddenly cut across her front and caught the front tire and basically threw her over. She was pinned between the frame of the bike and the roadway,” Sisson said.
“She did tell me she remembers seeing stars when she hit the ground. She’s starting to pull it together. It’s probably going to take a while for it to process though. By and large, she is wondering a little bit about how it happened to her…and why it happened.”
The collision is still upsetting for Chung to process.
“She’s lying down there and she cannot do anything. She cannot move. She has [to] use painkillers every day. Every moment, she feels pain. I just feel like I’m helpless. I cannot help her [and] take some [of her] pain onto myself.”
Though her injuries are severe, Joanne was wearing a helmet, which Sisson said may have saved her life.
“She came out with no head trauma or injuries to her scalp or trauma to her skull. That was very important,” he said.
The parents said life for their 11-year-old daughter may take a different trajectory after the collision. Joanne enjoys camping, ballet and cycling. While the parents said their daughter still has the same personality, they are not sure what she will be able to do in the future. As for right now, however, they are focused on her recovery.
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“I just wish she can recover very soon, with all of the support from friends, from family, from school especially, and get her life back,” Chung said with tears.
The parents are sharing their story in hopes it pushes motorists and pedestrians to become more aware of their surroundings.
“People are not being careful and they’re, particularly with all the construction, taking very foolish and unnecessary risks. I’ve seen people almost clip pedestrians or cyclists in other situations similar to this and just go merrily on their way. There’s all the irresponsible jaywalking you see time-to-time and also cycling, people get themselves in situations…they get in a very dangerous position,” Sisson said.
“I wonder maybe I should have drilled into Joanne the idea that you never stop alongside a vehicle. She should have sat behind it. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if that was the case.”
Chung is calling for similar behaviour on the roads.
“I just want people to know they should drive cautiously and pay more attention to the pedestrians and some of the kids playing on the street. I would like to tell people that is very important for the families who have kids injured,” she said.
“It’s a very tough time, hard time for the families going through this.”
The parents said the ordeal has put a strain on their family but want to thank the community, Velma E. Baker School and the parents’ council for their support since the collision. The parents’ association at the school are also raising money to help offset the costs of hospital visits and lost wages.
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