STANLEY BRIDGE – Seconds had passed before Jason Marshall opened his eyes to a pool of blood.
He had crashed, taking the brunt of the force when his motorcycle hit a turning vehicle.
He remembered his son, who had jumped over the car before the collision.
They yelled I love you and waited for help to arrive.
“The first thing I saw was the blood. And my foot peg,” said the 42-year-old Stanley Bridge resident.
Marshall had been driving home with his son, Chandler, 14, after having ice cream at Frosty Treat in Kensington as a way to beat the summer heat.
“We were driving up the highway, Red Sands Golf Course at the bottom of the hill and Clinton View Lodge at the top. There was also a lookout point for tourists. As we were going up the hill we saw a car. I remember it put on its signal light to turn left, which means it would cross into our lane.
“They started to turn, and then they paused. At the same time, I locked my back tire, hoping to come to as much of a stop as I could before we got to the car. But even though the car paused, they kept turning, which only left me with a small window to break.”
There wouldn’t be enough time.
Marshall, with Chandler still on the motorcycle, turned so the tire would be the first to hit the car.
“We hit the back bumper/side of the vehicle. The force was so strong that it turned the car the other way and the bike move the opposite.”
Chandler did his best to jump over the car, but he was thrown metres away from his father, suffering a broken ankle and serious road rash in the process.
Marshall’s injuries were more severe.
In addition to a broken leg, he had an eight-centimetre gash near his tail bone. It was about 5 ½ cm deep and two cm wide.
“It was about the size of a softball. I also had a cracked vertebra and a cracked nose.
“It was so bad I could see his tailbone,” said Jamie, Marshall’s wife. The wound had damaged his rectum causing part of it to be removed.
Marshall had six surgeries in total to treat his injuries – one at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and five at a hospital in Halifax.
Now, more than 45 days, two blue matching casts and a colostomy bag later, Jason and Chandler are on the road to recovery.
“It will be at least another two months before I can put weight on my foot. I’m sore all the time. I hate just being confined to the bed or chair. So, I try to get up as much as I can,” said Marshall.
Chandler is hoping to have a walking boot on his ankle before he goes back two school in a few days.
Marshall goes to physical therapy once a week and has a nurse come to the house to change his dressings and colostomy bag daily.
“Jamie’s been great through this whole thing. She waits on me hand and foot. And family and friends have been very supportive. There’s been a lot of generosity.”
Jamie says she was scared to death when she learned about the crash.
“I was at work at the time. When I got to the scene, I had to actually run up the hill to get to them. I saw some men standing over him with a blanket. I was so scared.
“The whole time I was running between Chandler and Jason, trying to be with them as much as I could. According to the first responders the only thing Chandler cared about was his dad.”
She continued, “Now I just want to see them get better. I’m so thankful that they’re both still here with me.”
Since the accident, Chandler, Jason and Jamie have not been working.
To help them with the financial strain they may feel during the recovery process a group of community members have organized a silent auction and dance for Sept. 7. There will be a silent auction and a donation bin. It will be held at the Kensington Legion.
Those wishing for more information about the event can contact Amanda Bonnell at 902-315-1052.
Twitter: @JPMillicentMcKay
Instagram: @millicentleemckay
