A disabled Prince George woman is still fearful about leaving her home, months after she was hit by a city bus while crossing the street in her mobility scooter.
On the afternoon of July 12, Lillian Carey was crossing Eighth Avenue from Spruceland Mall towards the gas station on the corner when she looked up and saw a bus coming right at her.
“There was a bus coming at me, I put my chair into high gear and tried to get out of the way, but he still hit me a sent me flying three feet,” Carey said. “I was probably in shock. I didn’t feel anything until the next day, when I went to go to the walk-in clinic because I hurt so bad. I ended up with really bad whiplash, I am still doing physio(therapy) for it.”
The bus struck the back of the mobility scooter and pushed it, damaging the cargo basket on the back of the chair, according to assessment by a technician at Medichair. The motor and gearbox of the chair now make a “weird grinding noise,” Carey said, but the technician found nothing mechanically wrong with the chair.
“I’ve been very scared to go out now. It could be my fear that is some of the issue,” she said.
Carey has congestive heart failure and health complications from her diabetes, which means she relies on the mobility scooter to get around.
ICBC paid her out-of-pocket expenses to repair her scooter and has covered her physiotherapy, so far, she said, but she didn’t receive any other compensation.
“I’ve never been hit by a bus before. I’ve never met anyone who was hit by a bus before. I thought they’d at least do something about the pain I went through,” she said. “I just know I’d like to have my life back the way it was.”
In an email, a spokesperson for BC Transit said BC Transit conducted an internal review of the incident, including a review of CCTV footage, and supported the investigation by the Prince George RCMP.
“BC Transit can confirm that our organization was aware of an incident on July 12, 2022 at Central Street West and 8th Avenue in Prince George, involving a BC Transit bus and person in a mobility chair,” the email said. “Our top priority is safety, and our thoughts are with the mobility aid user and transit operator involved in the incident.”
