By Don Urquhart
Snapped like a toothpick, the thick splinters of the battered utility pole extend skyward while the other half points menacingly off at a sharp angle while a third smaller piece of the pole lies on the shoulder of Hwy. 97 just after Rd. 7.
The all-but-destroyed pole is a poignant reminder of the tragic car accident on Nov. 19 that put a 16-year-old into a coma at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver and sent his dad to Penticton General Hospital also with serious injuries.
In such circumstances, it seems quite impossible for even a tiny fragment of joy to exist. But for 20-year-old Brooke Fuller whose younger brother Gavin and father Adam were the victims in that single-car accident, the outpouring of support from local communities and people further afield has touched her and family deeply with the light of joy helping to pierce the darkness.
“I’m so happy, my family is just so grateful for everybody coming together in this difficult time,” Brooke tells the Times Chronicle. “We are just touched by everybody’s help . . . just honestly speechless. I’m so happy, I’m so happy,” she says.
At the time of writing Brooke’s GoFundMe campaign for Gavin has raised $62,659 from 441 donations, more than double the original $30,000 goal.
“I just want to thank everybody for donating and helping out my family and I just want to say please just keep praying for Gavin because he needs it, my family needs it and thank you for the help and the support, for everything,” she says.
“Gavin is a sweet and loving young man . . . the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet,” Brooke lovingly describes her brother. An avid sporting enthusiast of basketball, skateboarding, volleyball, ultimate frisbee and hockey Gavin’s perpetual smile, intelligence and sense of humour make well-liked by his teammates, teachers and friends.
“He’s always laughing. He’s always trying to make everybody else feel alright. He’s just a very amazing human,” says Brooke, adding that he’s always dreamed of being a paleontologist since he was little.
For now, those dreams are on hold as Gavin is in an induced coma to enable his torn body to recover from the horrific injuries he suffered when the car slammed sideways into the utility pole after going into a slide as his father avoided a deer on the road. Gavin was returning home with his dad and brother Issac, who with less serious injuries walked away from the accident, after a basketball practice at South Okanagan Secondary School (SOSS) where he is a student.
“They are keeping him in a coma for now,” explains Brooke. “He has some brain bleeds, his brain is swelling, he has a ruptured spleen, livers, kidney he’s got a broken collarbone, fractures to his skull and a fractured cheekbone. So he’s he’s really going through it right now, but he’s such a strong boy,” she adds.
Brooke’s father’s injuries include seven broken ribs, a tear in his lung and torn muscles in his hips all of which put the sole breadwinner for the family of 11 on his own recovery journey.
The utility pole all but destroyed by the collision is a poignant reminder of the tragic accident on Hwy. 97 just south of Rd. 7.
Brooke says her mother is by Gavin’s side, something that was enabled by Highway to Healing, whose mission is to assist families in BC rural communities by providing financial support and resources when they must travel to access medical care for their ill or injured child. This provided a place to stay in Vancouver for a few weeks. But the road to recovery is going to be a long one Brooke acknowledges.
This was the key impetus for the GoFundMe campaign she says. “I just wanted to make sure that all my parent’s worries were kind of put to the side and that they can focus on getting better and focus on Gavin and just like all of the positivity,” she says.
“The bills are expensive and I just want to make sure that was all covered so that he can have a speedy recovery and not worry about any of that stuff.”
When asked how the family is coping, Brooke sighs, the first time in the conversation that her upbeat positivity shows any sign of stress. “We are doing okay, I mean . . . circumstances right now.”
As the oldest of nine siblings that range from age 1 to 20, Brooke sort of fell into the leadership role but is being helped out by her brother Issac and his partner. Their grandparents are helping out and friends and local residents have been dropping off food, “so we are well taken care of,” she adds.
“It’s honestly very stressful for me. I took a week off work to go stay with my mom and just kind of support her and whatever she needed. I am planning to take a leave of absence from my work to go stay with her until until I know that my brother is stable and awake.
“She needs emotional support. No mother, no parent, no sibling should ever have to go through something like this. I just want to make sure that she’s comfortable and well taken care of,” Brooke says.
Anyone wishing to donate can do so at the family’s GoFundMe page.
