“I was on the pavement waiting for my taxi and that’s the last thing I remember. The next thing I remember is waking up five days later in the intensive care unit in Vancouver.
Brenda Palmieri is still in the intensive care unit at Vancouver General Hospital after being injured in a crash on Prince George’s Hart Highway in mid-December.
She is unable to walk as she has a fractured hip as well as an open wound on her leg that will require skin grafting.
“Hopefully in the near future I’ll be able to start practicing getting up and walking and taking a few steps and whatnot,” Palmieri said in a phone interview from his hospital bed in Vancouver.
The 37-year-old mother-to-be was struck and left lying on Highway 97 at Noranda Road on Friday, December 16 around 7 p.m. Her unborn son did not survive.
A bystander, who turned out to be a lifeguard with advanced first aid training, stopped to help Palmieri while bystanders offered a scarf to wrap around her leg and a coat to cover her until paramedics arrived.
However, the driver fled the scene but was eventually located by Prince George RCMP on December 22nd.
Palmieri lived in a house on Hart Highway with her husband, Wade, but was on her way to stay at her father-in-law’s house that night.
Her father-in-law was sick and had just been released from the hospital, so Wade stayed there for a few days to take care of him.
“I also remembered that I have a few other doctor’s appointments next Monday, and since I don’t drive, it’s easier for me to get to my appointments from my father-in-law’s house.”
She left her house around 6:30 p.m. She went to the gas station across the street to buy gum and hailed a cab.
“I was on the pavement waiting for my taxi and that’s the last thing I remember. The next thing I remember is waking up five days later in the intensive care unit in Vancouver.
She said Wade wondered why she suddenly stopped responding to his text messages and didn’t know she had an accident until a hospital social worker contacted him.
“By the time they got my husband and he got to the hospital, our son was already dead, so unfortunately neither of us got to hold him or see him,” Palmieri explained. “Luckily, the hospital was kind enough to take hand and foot prints and they took some pictures after he was cleaned and dressed, so at least we have memories of him.”
Their son, whom they named Maverick, was due to be born by c-section just three weeks later on January 3.
“I’m sure the Prince George team did the best they could, but I was laying there bleeding for too long and Maverick just didn’t make it,” Palmieri said.
“That was difficult. I had surgery to clean my leg wound on January 3rd and it was hard knowing I had to have a c-section to deliver our son and my leg was repaired instead.’
She said many people have shown their support for the family and Asman Funeral Home in Prince George has also donated cremation services for free.
However, Palmieri said they were upset by derogatory online comments from people speculating about the incident.
“There was some confusion because there was another pedestrian on the road two hours before I got out who was under the influence, staggering around and on and off the road or whatever.”
She said people mixed them up and assumed they were the same person and that she was either under the influence or on the road when it wasn’t safe.
“It was hurtful to see comments like that, especially after everything our family has been through, and then for people to think that I’m doing this or that I’m somehow to blame for this incident.”
Palmieri said she spoke with the investigator in charge of her case, who confirmed she was not guilty and said she encourages people to pause before making offensive comments online.
“The hardest part is that we lost our son and we’re in this terrible situation and people are just making assumptions about a situation they know absolutely nothing about. Even if I was on the road, that doesn’t mean I deserve to be hit, and my son deserves to be killed.
Investigators also told her the driver is remorseful and has already been 100 percent cooperative after initially fleeing the scene. Charges are pending pending the completion of the RCMP investigation.
“I think he just panicked. I’m sure it was a shock to him.
However, Palmieri said he urges drivers, especially on Hart Highway, to use caution and slow down.
“I don’t think anything is that important to rush into.”
Palmieri and her husband will move to Kelowna after she is released from the hospital because she will need to be there for rehab and physical therapy and because they have a strong support system of friends and family in the area.
The couple also has a GoFundMe set up to help cover medical and funeral expenses as the family struggles to get back on their feet during Palmeri’s recovery.
“We want to thank the people who sent us words of encouragement and support,” she said.
Aside from the small handful of people who were rude, Palmieri is grateful for the majority of people and the outpouring of support.
“It was nice to know that complete strangers were thinking about us and our son Maverick. We don’t want him to be forgotten.”
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