A B.C. family that recently immigrated from Serbia is struggling after a horrific crash just after Christmas, one that left their children with injuries from which they may never fully recover.
On Dec. 27, 2020, at around 9 a.m., the Savic family was inside a Kia Sorrento stopped at an intersection on the Brunette Avenue exit off Highway 1, near the Coquitlam-New Westminster border.
A Dodge Charger that police allege was fleeing a traffic stop on Highway 1 eastbound near Government Street plowed into the Kia, flipping it upside down.
All five family members were sent to hospital, where two of the three children remain.
Those two daughters, aged nine and 13, were recently brought out of medically-induced comas and have no memory of the crash. Both have several broken bones and brain injuries, family friends say.
“The youngest is able to take a few steps, and she’s communicating very slowly,” family friend Milica Spasojevic told Global News. “The 13-year-old is in a wheelchair and is not able to walk or talk.”
The third child, a 15-year-old boy, suffered head lacerations and a broken arm but is recovering at home.
The family immigrated to B.C. three years ago, and are active in their Metro Vancouver church and folklore dance communities.
Friends say while the parents are also recovering from their own injuries, they are unable to work while their daughters require constant care.
The prognosis for the two girls is being determined on a day-by-day basis, and there is no estimate on how long they will remain in hospital.
“The children have sustained serious injuries that will for the rest of their lives affect them through no fault of their own,” said Dragana Mrakic Testani, president of the Mlada Srbadija Folklore Group.
“And then they have a child at home as well recovering … so it’s not easy.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to support the family through the recovery, with the goal of raising $100,000. As of Monday, nearly $91,000 has been collected.
“This is just something that we as the community can pull together for them,” Testani said.
“They’re very thankful for the generosity and support.”
The B.C. Independent Investigations Office is investigating whether RCMP actions led to the crash, as the driver of the Dodge Charger was allegedly fleeing police.
Investigators have disclosed the driver responsible for the crash, a woman in her 30s, was not known to police. That driver was also injured.
— With files from Andrea Macpherson and Rumina Daya