The mother of one the players injured in a tragic bus crash that killed 15 people and injured another 14 in northeastern Saskatchewan said her son is still coming to terms with what happened.
Michelle Straschnitzkiās 18-year-old son Ryan was transported to hospital in Saskatoon after a transport truck collided with a bus carrying junior hockey players for the Humboldt Broncos to a playoff game on Friday afternoon.
Straschnitzki told Ā鶹“«Ć½ Channel that she was able to speak with her son on Friday evening.
āHe was pretty out of it and heās in quite a bit of pain, but heās going into surgery today at some point,ā she said during an interview from Airdrie, Alta. on Saturday morning.
She said sheās not sure what the extent of his injuries are at this point, but that she was told he may have broken his back.
āHe apparently canāt feel his lower extremities so Iām not sure whatās going on there,ā she said.
When asked if Ryan knows what happened during the collision, Straschnitzki said heās still grasping the news.
āHe really doesnāt know. I think the shock and trauma of it all, he doesnāt really understand what happened and heās still asking about his teammates and the coaching staff,ā she said. āI donāt think its hit him yet, what exactly happened. Itās hitting all of us, of course, but I donāt think he knows yet.ā
Straschnitzki said she and other families affected by the tragedy have been receiving support from people all over.
āPeople that we played hockey [with] for years have been reaching out, people we donāt even know from across the country, basically from across the world, people are reaching out to us and weāre just so thankful and just devastated,ā she said.
Straschnitzki plans to travel to Saskatoon later in the day to visit Ryan in hospital where she said sheāll meet up with other Humboldt Broncos families impacted by the crash.
āWeāll be reaching out to the other parents of the Bronco[s] team and just trying to gather support for each other,ā she said.
āI wish we had a time machine and could go back 24 hours.ā
