‘He had angels with him’ says partner of Linc crash victim who survived but faces a long road to recovery

Brian MacDonald was three minutes from home, just one stop away from his exit on the Lincoln Alexander Parkway when in a moment his life - and the lives of his loved ones - changed forever.

It was around 6:15 p.m. on May 19 and traffic on the eastbound lanes of the Linc had slowed because of a collision. Brian, in his silver 2016 Chevy Cruz, was fully stopped near the Mohawk Road exit.

Every time I stopped (in my car) I always looked in my mirror," he said recently, sitting on the front porch of his family's home, surrounded by his partner, sister and mom.

So even though I don't remember I promise you I saw him coming."

What he would have seen was a transport truck barrelling toward him. It smashed into his car, causing a chain-reaction crash that damaged five vehicles.

The collision report shared with the family said the transport truck was travelling 80 kilometres an hour.

The driver of the transport - a 60-year-old man from Woodstock - was charged with careless driving causing bodily harm under the Highway Traffic Act, said Hamilton police.

(Brian) had angels with him that day," his partner Doris Robertson said about the fact that he survived.

A miracle," added his sister Sherri MacDonald.

A stranger found Brian's phone and called Doris through Facebook messenger. She watched in horror as first responders worked to free him from the wreckage. Sherri got a call too, and together with their mom, Bernice Childs, drove to the scene.

Police on scene stopped Childs from getting too close.

That's my son," she remembers telling them, terrified.

Sherri kept walking and stood in front of the car as her brother was cut free. The rescue took about 40 harrowing minutes.

As the family drove to the Hamilton General Hospital they thought he was going to die. He survived, but still faces a long road to recovery.

Brian spent 21 weeks in hospital, including 23 days in the intensive care unit, 27 in a step-down unit, 17 on a ward. Then he moved to the acquired brain injury in-patient program at the Regional Rehabilitation Centre on Wellington Street North where over three months, a team of specialists helped him learn to walk again.

He suffered three brain injuries in the impact causing diffuse axonal injury, often called shaken baby syndrome. He had fractured ribs and vertebrae, his left upper arm was shattered, he had widespread nerve damage in his right arm, and his right lung was compressed.

There is a blank spot in Brian's memory beginning about two weeks before the crash and lasting up until about two weeks before he left hospital. But he knows the day of the crash he went to work for Direct Traffic on Frid Street. The company provides traffic control services at construction sites. Usually he would take the Queen Street hill to get home, but that day he didn't.

The one day I go on the highway ... bang," Brian said.

The transition from the rehab centre to home has been hectic and challenging. Brian still requires a lot of physical care: he has a feeding tube, can only walk short distances, is in pain and has lots of medical appointments and ongoing rehabilitation. This work - and a lot of his care in hospital - has been undertaken by Doris, who took a sick leave to become his full-time nurse.

Doris said the hardest part is Brian's struggle to regulate his moods, because of the brain injury. He has no filter and can go from happy to sad to angry in the blink of an eye. Most frustrating for Brian is the continued impact on his speech, which is slow and slurred.

People can't understand him and he worries people are scared of him, he said.

When Brian was in hospital - before going to the rehab centre - he was a vegetable," he said. At night when Doris would go home he would stare for hours at the ceiling, unable to move and unable to sleep because of noise.

The injuries have left Brian without a filter, so when asked about his time at the General he does not have nice words to say. But Doris is more diplomatic and says they simply didn't have enough staff. In the early days in hospital, there were no brain injury rehabilitation specialists offered, so she undertook that work herself, mainly by reading and talking to him. Her wish is to raise awareness about the lack of supports, and to advocate for more resources in the early days of recovery.

On July 25, I went to rehab, I was a vegetable, I wanted to just be done, die, be done," he remembers.

Doris said he had no hope. He was rude to staff. But slowly things started to change.

It took me about three weeks and I started to come around thinking I can do this, I can do it," Brian said.

He learned to walk again. His speech improved a bit - although he still has a long way to go. He can carefully swallow liquids.

They were my friends," he said, of the staff at the rehab centre who never gave up" on him. I had the best rehab team, they were like angels."

When it was time for him to go home they lined up at the door to say goodbye.

When Brian finally came home Oct. 21 he said: yup I'm home mummy." He lives with his mom, partner and sister, each taking on a different role to care for him and pick up the slack for all the things Brian can no longer do.

Trying to fill his shoes is like a four person job," Sherri said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for medical and other expenses they incurred over the last six months.

Sherri said she wants drivers to understand the consequences of dangerous driving and how quickly it can go wrong. To see what happened to Brian and their family.

The brain injury has changed the way Brian moves, talks and even his personality. Before crash he was active - hiking, fishing, watching movies, going out to dinners and concerts. He and Doris had to cancel a planned trip to Newfoundland this past summer.

Many years ago he worked as a firefighter and emergency medical technician in the United States. At Direct Traffic he had no issues standing on the side of busy major highways. Now he tells everyone not to drive on the Linc or Red Hill Valley Parkway. The company, now owned by Ramudden, have been incredibly supportive, the family says, including organizing for Brian to travel with their float at the Santa Claus parade.

Sitting outside the family home, Brian tosses peanuts to blue jays and squirrels - he loves animals, just like his mom. The family has three cats - Carson, Baby Girl and Nova - and over the years he's rescued multiple animals, including a squirrel he hand fed. He hopes to be able to do that again some day.

There are other things he looks forward to, including one day being able to eat solid food. He is quick to list off all the food he dreams of eating. Top of the list is steak.

There have also been small blessings. Not all of the personality changes from the Brian injury have been bad. He can be friendlier.

He jokes that his wheelchair is a chick magnet."

All the ladies wave," he said.

Laughing, Doris replies it's not just the ladies."

A car drove by and honked, without knowing who it was or why they honked, Brian waved hello. A next door neighbour returned home with her little girl, everyone in the family jumped up to great them.

I never spoke to my neighbours, before the accident I would say hi, that was it," he said. Now I talk to everyone."

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com