I finally arrive in the Plateau and luckily find a parking spot for the scooter a couple of blocks away next to other scooters. I lock it up and walk to the restaurant and the girls are already there. We have a lovely brunch, Passe Compose is good. We decide to go up the street to Parc Lafontainne to eat cupcakes that Mylène made. We find a picnic table and eat our cupcakes. Mylène makes great cupcakes.
I told the girls that I have to head out early. It is about 3:30 pm and I have to meet Tyler at 4:00 pm in Verdun by the water. I've met Tyler a few times at his request. I was his social worker at his high school while i was doing my internship there. So now I'm Tyler's volunteer social worker of sorts. I rush to walk to my scooter concerned that I will be late. I walk a few blocks to my scooter and now that it's later afternoon it's quite hot. I'm looking forward to getting on the scooter and getting some breeze.
I unlock the scooter and drive out to Amherst Street. I head south to René-Lévesque Street. I don't really like taking René-Lévesque since its such a big street and gets really busy but it's the best option to get across to the west. I didn't want to take Atwater Street since it's a Saturday and usually it's crazy. I usually take Guy street instead to head south. While I'm on René-Lévesque the light was flashing green to turn left at Lucien-D'Allier so I decide to turn left here. While I'm headed south on Lucien-D'Allier I feel anxious, it's a considerable downhill. I often feel anxious when I take streets I usually don't because being on a scooter is much more dangerous if I hit a pothole.
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What follows is what I have been informed about from my parents who spoke to the police and what other people have told me. After turning on Lucier-d'Allier, I have no memory of what happened:
A 22 year old driving a car going west on St-Antoine doesn't notice he has the red light. He tries to brake but hits me while I'm going through the intersection. He hits me on the left side at my leg. He was probably doing 50-60 km/hour. After impact, I fly on the windshield of the car and hit my head on the left side. I roll off the car and end up 2-3 lanes away from my scooter. The guy who hit me calls 911. At the intersection people saw what happened.
The police and the ambulance arrive quickly. A police person asks me my name and phone number. I tell them and then pass out. The ambulance brings me to MGH (Montreal General Hospital). Upon arrival, I get a head CT. They are concerned about my head trauma. I am admitted to ICU (Intensive Care Unit). I also have a fracture to my left ankle. The media arrive later at the scene of the accident.
TVA films my scooter on the ground. The police come to my apartment to see if anyone is there. They speak with my neighbours to see if they have phone numbers for my family. They call my landlord in Magog and ask him as well. Nobody has the phone numbers for my family. The police even call my number and leave a message that I'm at the hospital.
The hospital has no phone number for my family either. My iPhone that has many numbers disappeared in the accident. Mom sees on TVA and on the Internet a picture taken at the scene of the accident. She thinks it's my scooter. It looks like my scooter she says to dad. She looks at the picture I had sent her a few months before of my new scooter. Dad says he thinks I'm in Cornwall visiting my friend Jen. Mom's not convinced. She's scared it's my scooter. They said the victim was a woman in her thirties. She calls me. She sends me an e-mail:
Subject: Are you OK
Priscilla Smith 28/07/2012
To: Chantal Smith
Nous avons vu à la télé un accident de scooter gris sur Lucien lallier, qui a eu lieu à 4h aujourd'hui. La conductrice dans la trentaine fut transportée à l'hopital.
Maman xiooxoo
Maman xiooxoo
By Sunday night, mom is worried. She hasn't heard from me yet. She thinks this is unusual since we usually talk on Sunday nights. She has the instinct that something is wrong. It's later Sunday night and she decides to check my phone messages to see if something is going on, she knows my password. She hears a message from the police saying that I had been in an accident and I'm at MGH. My parents get in the car and head to MGH.
