Woman recalls horror of being struck by car years ago at same intersection where man was killed last week
Hamilton resident Patricia O'Rourke recalls what went through her mind the moment before she slammed face first into the windshield of a vehicle that had just hit her.
This is going to hurt," she thought.
O'Rourke, now 61, was struck by a car in 2012 while crossing Wellington Street North at Barton Street East - the same intersection where a 65-year-old man using a motorized scooter died Thursday after he was struck by a dump truck. The man was also using the crosswalk.
O'Rourke said she couldn't sleep after reading about the Thursday fatality.
It brought my accident all the way back," O'Rourke said, calling the recent incident absolutely terrible."
O'Rourke calls four-lane Wellington - a southbound one-way street - a speedway" and says more needs to be done to make the area safer.
Ward 3 councillor Nrinder Nann is calling for an immediate investigation into safety conditions at the intersection. Nann said she supports enhanced safety features" and is looking forward to hearing specific recommendations following an investigation. The city did confirm advance lights are already in place at the intersection.
For O'Rourke, her accident came on the first spring-feeling day in March 2012. She was working at the Hamilton Health Sciences Regional Rehabilitation Centre and decided to duck out for a short walk to grab a tea at Tim Hortons.
While she was waiting to cross Wellington at the south side of Barton, she noticed an agitated driver on Barton, trying to turn left onto four-lane Wellington. The man was yelling at the driver in front of him, O'Rourke said. When the pedestrian walk sign signalled that it was OK for her to walk, she crossed. Both drivers turned.
The agitated driver plowed into her, she said.
She smashed into the driver's windshield, caving it in. The two thick leather straps on her purse snapped. She went flying through the air, landing more than 30 feet away.
He took me out of my shoes," she said.
By the end of it, she'd suffered a fractured eyebrow bone, fractured eye socket, fractured cheekbone, fractured upper jawbone, fractured right wrist and a traumatic brain injury. There were glass fragments in her left eye and she had the worst headache of my life."
A doctor who was in the area - located right by the Hamilton General Hospital - attended to O'Rourke as she lay bloodied and unconscious. She was taken to hospital where she was treated and released later that day. She says she told hospital staff she just wanted to go home.
The driver in her case was ultimately charged with improper turn," she said.
Police have not said if the driver in the Thursday collision will face charges. They have ruled out speed and impairment as factors in the crash.
To this day, O'Rourke continues to suffer from her incident. She struggles with her memory and has intense fear of busy intersections. She used to go for five-kilometre walks every day. Now she can't. She's too fearful of drivers. She tried to return to work but was unable to.
She wants drivers to know: Their car is a weapon."
It is a weapon if you're not paying attention, if you're rushing, if you're distracted," she said.
Stats in Hamilton
The Thursday incident marked the 13th vehicle-related fatality in Hamilton this year. Another vehicle-related collision in Stoney Creek over the weekend saw an 86-year-old pedestrian die. Of the 13 fatalities, police list seven as pedestrian-related.
According to Hamilton police statistics, there were 15 fatalities, including five pedestrians, six drivers and four vehicle passengers in 2020. In 2019, there were 18 fatalities, including nine pedestrians, eight drivers and one passenger.
Of the fatality-related incidents over the last three years that resulted in 47 deaths, just seven resulted in charges. Three Highway Traffic Act charges were laid along with four Criminal Code charges, according to police data. A total of 12 incidents are currently open and under investigation.
Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com