A Vancouver lawyer has been identified as one of the victims in Monday’s collision that sent two pedestrians to hospital with serious injuries.
Rachel Barsky was walking along Burrard Street near Pacific Boulevard around 6:30 p.m. Monday when a southbound van jumped the curb striking her and a 53-year-old woman.
This video posted to Facebook shows the emergency response to the collision.
Barsky and the other woman were both rushed to hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries. The driver of the van, a man in his 60s, was also taken to hospital for assessment but has since been released. Both women are still in hospital.
Barsky’s injuries are extensive and include a broken pelvis, fractures to her hip and back, broken fingers and internal bleeding.
“She is still in hospital and will likely be for the next few months at least,” friend Amanda Carling said in an email to the Courier.
“From what I can tell, she seems to be in a lot of pain but they’re trying to manage it and she is not the kind of person to complain — she really is unbreakable.”
Carling started an online campaign to raise funds for Barsky to help cover costs while she recovers. The gofundme.com campaign has already raised more than $8,400 in just one day.
“Contrary to the public’s perception, some lawyers — including Rachel — don’t make a lot of money,” she said.
Barksy graduated from UBC’s Peter C. Allard School of Law in 2012 and now practices criminal defence law. Carling said she has done thousands of hours of pro bono work on the case of Phillip Tallio, the Bella Coola man who has spent more than 35 years in prison for a crime, the murder of 22-month-old girl, he says he didn’t commit, as well as many other cases.
“She has only taken jobs that would allow her to continue her work on wrongful convictions at a great personal sacrifice,” Carling said.
Barsky is a volunteer case reviewer with Innocence Canada and previously volunteered with the UBC Innocence Project where she taught public legal education sessions for high school students and teachers, including one on the Nuxalk First Nation in Bella Coola.
She was named one of Canadian Lawyer magazine’s Top 25 Most Influential lawyers in 2018.
- Jessica Kerr, Vancouver Courier
