1966 And all That

1966 And all That
by Dick Hunt, December 1st, 2012
It was a year of a big Scout Jamboree in Penticton in July. We had chosen to go to Alberta to do extensive vistiing with Family and Friends. We drove a Chev Sedan V8 and pulled a “Holiday Trailer” with sleeping space for six, the size of our Family. It was convenient for us to drop our eldest son Rob off in Penticton en route. And we planned to pick him up on our way back to Williams Lake, our home at that time. We enjoyed our time in Alberta, parked our trailer at my Parents home south of Calgary and had a relaxing holiday. Shortly before we were due to head back west, Ruth and I dropped our three other children off at the Calgary Zoo under the care of our eldest, Joy. We picked up a couple of dear friends and took them to lunch and as we were returning them to their home, we were rear ended by a huge, loaded semi gravel truck going an estimated 70 miles per hour in a 35 MPH zone. There were two R.C.M.P. cars there and the Officers who saw it happen.

We were hit so hard that the bench seat broke off at the floor and dumped me and my male passenger upside down in the back. Ruth and her friend received severe whiplash injury, there being no head restraints in 1966 models. There had been a minor accident right near before ours and there was an ambulance on site. They whisked Ruth and our friends off to the hospital while I was asked by the Police to stay and fill out an accident report. As I was standing beside a city Bus which had been hit in a previous accident, a passenger on the bus,(the windows were open) said, “Dick Hunt, what are you doing here?” When I said I was the driver of the Chev., she said, “I don’t believe it, there was no one left alive in that car”

We had a cartop carrier on our car, which flew loose and struck a bystander, causing severe injuries. And the truck pushed us rapidly down the hill and into another standard sedan writing it off as well as our car. In the meantime the truck driver accused me of stopping in front of him. We would have been much more severely injured or likely killed had we not had a heavy duty trailer hitch welded securely into the car frame before leaving for that trip. The hitch went under the truck bumper and hit the tuck axle, thus stopping the bumper from crushing the rear seat compartment. As I flew over, upside down, in the flash of a second, I saw the rear window pop out of the car intact, as it flew out and hit the top of the truck cab, smashing into a thousand pieces.

After I made my report to the police, I told them that our children were waiting for us at the Zoo. They drove me there, long overdue and they were very upset to see only me riding in a police cruiser. They drove us to the hospital where we were very pleased to see a Anglican Minister friend who helped us to get back to where we needed to go, to my parents home. Then we had to find a replacement car that could pull the Trailer home, get it financed, have a trailer hitch installed, try to contact Rob who was stranded in Penticton (we failed in that) and eventually headed for home. As it happened, a very fine couple, whose own son was at the Jamboree took Rob under their care and returned him to us in Williams Lake safe and sound. But all in all it was a fractured, difficult and somewhat emotional Holiday, yet nevertheless rich in visiting loved ones, learning to cope with great difficulties, making new friends who were generous in giving their help. We have learned along the way that it is in coping with crises and not quitting that we are strengthened and we learn to trust God.