Syrian refugee left with life-threatening injuries in Kingston, Ont., by vehicle travelling on sidewalk

Global News has confirmed that the woman nearly killed by a vehicle travelling on a Kingston, Ont., sidewalk is a Syrian refugee.

Abeer Abo Hajar, 35, came to Canada with her family from Syria in December 2018.

As of Friday, she is currently in intensive care battling the life-threatening injuries she sustained in a serious collision on Tuesday, when a Kingston driver allegedly drove onto a sidewalk to get around traffic.

Her husband Bashar Shehna, who spoke to Global News through an interpreter, says Hajar is suffering from severe brain damage and several broken limbs. Doctors treating her say her chance of survival is severely low, and if she does recover, she will likely be affected by her injuries.

Hajar and her husband have four young children, ages seven, four, two, and six months, and hoped that their arrival in Canada would be a new start, according to Det. Const. Scott Huffman, who is investigating the case.

“They are all looking for their mother. All four of them were at the health clinic today, because they are all sick. The kids are crying every night,” said Shehna.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They are all looking for their mother. All four of them were at the health clinic today, because they are all sick. The kids are crying every night," said Shehna.

During Tuesday’s rush-hour, a driver allegedly struck Hajar while she was walking on a sidewalk next to Bath Road just west of Sir John A. MacDonald Boulevard.

The young family had just moved into an apartment nearby a month prior.

The driver, 30-year-old Brandon Desjardins from Kingston, was travelling in a white Hummer the westbound lanes of Bath Road when police say he intentionally jumped up onto the curb and began driving on the sidewalk to circumvent traffic.

“Because of the backed up traffic at the time on Bath Road, the accused attempted to drive around traffic on the shoulder/sidewalk so as to avoid traffic,” Const. Ash Gutheinz, media officer with the Kingston police, told Global News on Wednesday.

He then allegedly continued driving on the sidewalk when he struck Hajar, leaving her with severe life-threatening injuries. Police say Hajar tried to get out of the way, but she was still struck and thrown to the ground.

The vehicle eventually came to a stop against a tree on the side of the road.

An unidentified female passenger inside the vehicle was also sent to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Police have not given an update on her condition.

Desjardins escaped the collision with minor injuries, was arrested and charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

On Wednesday, Desjardins appeared in a Kingston court and was released to appear at a future court date.

For something like this to happen after he and his family had fled from Syria has been devastating, says Shehna.

“We left a country that had war, that had death, that had missiles, that had killing, to come to a country were there is safety and peace and law,” said Shehna on Friday.

Huffman says for Kingston police, this case has been hard on some of the officers.

“This one is particularly tragic. The victim has a young family and it hits home for us.”

He is asking anyone with information or who may have witnessed the incident to share it with Kingston police.

A GoFundMe campaign with a $10,000 goal has been started to support Abeer’s family.