By MICHAEL RIGLER
Star Staff Writer
DEER LAKE - It’s a miracle no one was killed.
That’s what police in Nova Scotia said of the bus, which crashed after hitting a patch of black ice Sunday night.
On board were 35 young badminton players and nine adult chaperones that were heading back to Newfoundland’s west coast after taking part in a regional tournament.
After getting the call at approximately 7 p.m. Sunday night that a bus carrying children had careened off Highway 104 near Monastery, police, paramedics and rescue crews rushed to the scene of the accident fearing the worst. The children had born the brunt of the crash, suffering lacerations, broken bones and contusions.
Yet somehow everyone survived and after a day in the care of doctors in the area, the group was on the road again Tuesday.
Back at home, parents like Glenda Aubert of Trout River, wept as they saw the images of the twisted wreckage on the news.
Aubert spent many nerve-wracking hours awaiting the return of her husband Chris, and daughters Rebecca, 12, and Sarah 16. Her youngest daughter suffered a severe head laceration after being thrown through the windshield of the bus and onto the highway. The injury required 35 stitches. Staff at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish where the accident victims were treated, reported that Rebecca Aubert was in high spirits and joked about the injury with the doctor who’d tended to her. But the young girl became increasingly distraught as the initial shock of the accident wore off.
Aubert’s eldest daughter Sarah — who had been celebrating her triple crown wins in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles events on the bus ride home— dislocated her thumb and had a score of cuts and bruises. Standing at a roadside gas bar in Deer Lake Tuesday afternoon, Glenda Aubert fretted nervously with her coffee cup as she stared down the Trans-Canada Highway, willing the bus into sight.
“I just need to see them safe and home now,” Aubert said. “My little girl (Rebecca) was really upset last night when I spoke to her.
“She didn’t want to get back on a bus and I was ready to drive down to Port aux Basques to pick them up (at the ferry terminal) today. But my husband phoned today to say she felt a little braver when she saw it was light out and the weather was good today ... I’m so fortunate my husband was with my two girls. I know there were other chaperones but it meant so much to me that he was there.”
Aubert said she was horrified by the pictures of the wreckage she saw broadcast Monday night. She said the pictures made her realize how lucky her two daughters and her husband were to escape the accident.Television cameras and reporters descended upon the girls as they got off the bus. The two were obviously distraught and sobbed as they embraced their mother.
With everyone off the bus, the families packed heir children into cars and minivans as they prepared to make the last leg of their journey home.
Meanwhile, RCMP members in Nova Scotia wrapped up their investigation into the accident saying high winds and slippery road conditions led to the accident. The driver had no alcohol in his blood stream and his logbooks were in order.