Matthew Ekstrom had his leg amputated following an alleged road rage incident in north Red Deer last month. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

life-changing incident

Delivery driver has leg amputated after alleged road rage incident

Feb 11, 2020 | 5:30 AM

Matthew Ekstrom was going about a normal shift as a food delivery driver on the afternoon of January 26 when, in mere minutes, his life changed forever.

At about 4 p.m. the 26-year-old was driving westbound on 67 Street as he went to make a pickup from a restaurant near Golden West Avenue.

He was in the middle lane and realized he needed to get right in order to make his turn in time. As he sped up to switch lanes, so too did the vehicle to his right, blocking his path.

Ekstrom ultimately did get into the right-side lane, he recalls, but the driver of the other car sped around him and cut him off before slamming on the brakes.

With them both stopped on 67 Street, Ekstrom says the other driver got out of their vehicle and tried opening his locked door before punching and cracking the driver-side window. That’s when Ekstrom, who was already on the phone with a friend who was at nearby Taylor Plaza, asked him to come for help.

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The other driver backed off and went back to his vehicle before following Ekstrom into the restaurant’s parking lot. When Ekstrom’s friend arrived, they got out of their vehicles to confront the suspect driver and hopefully scare him away.

When Ekstrom’s friend went to call 9-1-1, the other driver rammed into Ekstrom as he stood alone, knocking him to the ground.

“When I was laying on my right side, I felt his bumper over top the left side of my body. I thought he was going to run me completely over. I thought I was going to die,” Ekstrom remembers.

“I had so much adrenaline, I didn’t even feel my ankle, but he ran over the bottom part of my leg and I was sliding on the ice.”

The collision resulted in life-altering injuries.

“It was mangled, so the best option was to amputate,” lamented Ekstrom, who ended up having part of his right leg removed.

“Everyone I’ve told just shakes their head, like how could someone have that much road rage?”

RCMP located and arrested the suspect driver outside the city.

Two weeks later and still in hospital for the foreseeable future, Ekstrom is doing his best to be strong and face his new reality.

“It’s pretty upsetting. Who wants to lose a leg at 26? But I’ve talked to the doctors, my friends and family, and I can get a prosthetic and live like I lived before. I used to do a lot of jiu jitsu as a hobby.

“I’m not sure what my future holds, but I know I’ll be okay.”

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Ekstrom with payments he has.

“I’m in quite a bit of pain because of the shock from the incident. My whole body’s been really sore, and even when someone makes me laugh, everything hurts because it’s a big shock to the body,” he adds. “I feel like I’m pretty fortunate, because I could’ve died.”

Andrew Hunter, 32, is charged with dangerous operation of a conveyance causing bodily harm, failure to stop after an accident resulting in bodily harm, and assault with a weapon.

Hunter is scheduled to appear in Red Deer Provincial Court on March 10.