A witness to a fatal crash in Surrey on Tuesday says the woman who was struck by an unoccupied delivery van died a hero.
Jerry Barr said the victim’s last action before being struck was to push her children out of the vehicle’s path.
“She gave them her final Christmas gift — life,” Barr told Global News on Wednesday.
“I would think all three of them would have went under that vehicle.”
The crash happened just before 3 p.m., near 144 Street at 61A Avenue, when the van rolled into traffic, according to Surrey RCMP.
The unoccupied van struck another vehicle before hitting the victim.
Barr saw the tragedy as he was driving his son home from school.
“It’s just so shocking — she was just there (they were) all holding hands,” he said. “She had probably three or four seconds to react. It was that fast.”
The victim managed to push one child completely out of the way, while a second child was partially struck be the vehicle, he said.
“It’s definitely something I’ll never forget in my life for sure,” he said.
“I went up to her and I said, ‘The kids are OK, don’t worry, the kids are OK.’ I don’t know if she understood that, I hope she did, and (knew) that her actions saved the kids.”
Barr said paramedics arrived and did a “hell of a job,” but were unable to revive the victim.
The van’s driver also approached the scene, but did not say anything before police arrived and separated him from the scene, according to Barr.
“He didn’t say a word, his hands were on top of his head,” he said.
Surrey RCMP says the vehicle’s driver is devastated. The man was delivering packages for Amazon, but the online retailer says he was not an employee.
Police are working to determine what he was doing before and while the van rolled away. The vehicle will also undergo a mechanical inspection.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or captured video of it is asked to contact Surrey RCMP.