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(Courtesy RCMP)
"I honestly did die"

Pay attention to your health, says trucker who survived QEII crash

Jul 11, 2020 | 8:00 AM

Warning: This story contains graphic images

The man behind the wheel of a semi-truck which careened into a highway overpass last month in central Alberta believes his late parents were watching over him as he sat bleeding profusely and trapped in the vehicle’s cab.

“At some point in that crash, I honestly did die. I was gone somewhere I’ve never been before and it was calm and peaceful,” says Darryl DeWolde, a Calgary-area resident and 33-year veteran of driving large trucks. “Then I came back to the chaos.”

It was just after 7:30 on the morning of June 24 when DeWolde’s truck left the QEII Highway and slammed into the overpass at Hwy 616 near Millet.

The front end looked like a crushed pop can and 49,000 pounds of beef headed for Spruce Grove was strewn about as emergency personnel extracted him.

“I remember driving up the highway, and I see the Millet/Mulhurst overpass sign, then all of a sudden I’m on the grass heading straight for the overpass. I tried jack-knifing the truck, and heading up the hill further to the right, so as not to hit that bridge,” says DeWolde. “The last thing I wanted to do was hit it. I could’ve decapitated myself if I had hit more on the left side of the truck. I was aiming to launch across — anywhere but the bridge — but I had no control.”

Miraculously, he suffered no other injuries aside from a massive wound on his head that required 30 stitches, and a black eye. He was treated in an Edmonton hospital where he was flown to by STARS Air Ambulance.

“The reefer (refrigerator) from my trailer was in my bunk, the engine was in the passenger seat, the steering wheel was through the driver’s window, and I had just enough space to sit. I was hunched over my dashboard bleeding, and my mom and dad had made me a cage to protect me,” DeWolde emotionally recalls. “There was also a single hole there, and passers-by standing on the bridge were talking to me through it. If it weren’t for them, I probably wouldn’t be here today.”

(Photos supplied)

DeWolde, who has a girlfriend and three sons in their 20s, says they were each very shaken by the crash.

He tells rdnewsNOW that since the crash, doctors have confirmed he had a medical episode related to high blood pressure, which he’s had treated for several years.

On the morning of the crash, it dipped, and he blacked out going highway speeds.

“I do all I can to take extremely good care of my equipment and I’m very proud of what I do to ensure I’m not endangering the public when behind the wheel,” he says. “What bothered me the most at first is not knowing what caused it. That morning, I had 100 per cent confidence in that truck and in my ability to operate it.

“Pay attention to your health. Don’t play Mr. Invincible. Look how well that worked out for me.”

DeWolde adds that he’s never fallen asleep on the road, and always stops immediately for a nap when tired. Nonetheless, he admits his future on the road is unclear.

At the end of the day, the incident has given the 49-year-old pause to think about the world around him and be grateful for what and who he has in his life.

“If you see somebody having a problem on the road, or is in a wreck, do what you can to help. There are so many times somebody’s stuck on the road and others just leave them sitting there,” he urges. “Everybody needs to start being a little more humane towards other people. We’re all skin and bones; what’s the difference really?”