CALEB NICKERSON
BRISTOL Nov. 21, 2018
A trip to Shawville turned into a close call for a brother and sister from Masham, after their vehicle careened off the road and into the Quyon River on Nov. 21.
Rejeanne Larose and her brother Jacques were travelling down chemin Ragged Chute in Bristol that morning when they rounded the corner approaching the bridge over the river.
“When I came around the corner, I lost control,” she said, speaking to The Equity mostly in French. “I’m not sure, if [it was] ice, I put on a bit of brake.”
Their SUV hit the guardrail and plummeted into the gully, landing in rushing water up to the wheel wells. Luckily, neither of the Laroses were seriously injured in the crash and quickly scrambled to escape.
“I went out [the window] and climbed on top [of the SUV],” explained Rejeanne, adding that her brother followed.
Since she only has one leg, due to a bout of cancer, Rejeanne was stuck on the roof of the vehcile while Jacques managed to use a branch to scramble to shore.
A passing motorist stopped to call 911, and members of the Bristol Fire Department were on scene within about 10 minutes, according to Rejeanne. She said her time on the roof of the vehicle was incredibly frightening, and she’s had trouble sleeping for the past few nights. She added that she was grateful for the firefighters who came to her rescue.
Dan Lalonde and Josh Massia of Lalonde’s Towing were tasked with extracting the vehicle from the river, with the help of first responders.
“We had the fire department there to rope us off you know, just in case anything happened,” Lalonde explained. “We put the ladder in the car, on the bank, I went across and put a hole in the windshield to put a chain around.”
“We were able to winch it all the way up, then turn it around on the hill to get it to come up between the two trees,” he continued, adding that the whole operation took several hours.
This is the second time Lalonde has pulled a vehicle out of the same location.
“As you come around the corner, it’s not a long distance from there to where the bridge is, so if you lose it around that corner, you kind of slide right in that general direction,” he said. “After the last accident they put a guardrail in there, but this time it just got pushed over.”