Former resident of Ardrossan recalls her tragic car crash in Holden
Kathleen Blakely, a former resident of Ardrossan and now living in Edmonton is a fortunate survivor of a tragic car accident in 1974, which could have been fatal. Blakely recalls she was in Grade 11 attending the Ardrossan Jr. and Sr. High at the time, and decided to visit her boyfriend in Holden.
“It was May 14, and I was driving to Holden in the evening.
“The rail crossing in those days was unguarded, and instead of pressing the brakes, I somehow pressed the gas, and the next thing I know I was in the hospital. There was a moment though when I did see the train but it was too late.”
What followed was tumultuous for Blakely and her family and friends.
“I was first taken to the Tofield Hospital and then to the University of Alberta Hospital, where they X-rayed me up and down, but except for my face, which was badly bruised and bashed up, they didn’t find a single bone in my body that was broken,” Blakely said. “Of course my brain was a different issue. I had to have brain surgery.” . . . contd.
