On the day she finally welcomes her husband home from the hospital after a horrific car crash back in May, Brenda Brunelle has a serious message for those who speed, drink and drive, or drive distracted.
"Driving a vehicle is not getting on a ride in an amusement park," says Brunelle. "There has been so much tragedy. I didn't lose my husband, but I can tell you, it was close."
A photo of Don Brunelle soon after the crash on Talbot Trl. courtesy of Brenda Brunelle.
On May 26, Ontario Provincial Police officers, Chatham-Kent firefighters and Essex-Windsor EMS responded to a crash on Talbot Trl. near Wheatley. A car had been travelling eastbound at a high rate of speed when it crashed into a hydro pole, breaking the concrete pole in half.
Don Brunelle was a passenger in his friend's new 2008 red Corvette, and they were taking it for a spin when it left the road.
Brenda Brunelle stayed behind with the friend's wife who received a call soon after from her son, who is a firefighter in Chatham-Kent, asking where his dad was because he had just heard of a bad accident over the radio. Just to be sure it was not Don, Brunelle and her friend hopped in her car and headed for Hwy. 3.
Emergency vehicles passed her on the highway. And then she saw the wreckage.
"I think I'm still standing on Hwy. 3, asking was that a Corvette," says Brunelle recounting those minutes months later. "I don't know that I've woken from my coma yet."
Don was in a coma for 30 days. He suffered lacerations on his internal organs. He broke his sternum, shattered his pelvis, and fractured his wrist. He suffered many infections in the hospital while he was intubated and had a catheter, and nearly died on more than one occasion.
"I could have lost him. They didn't have to get in that car that night. It was a joy-ride on a new vehicle recently purchased," says Brunelle.
The driver of the Corvette, a 64-year-old man, is charged with stunt driving, careless driving causing bodily harm, and having a blood-alcohol limit in excess of the legal limit causing bodily harm. He still has to go to trial.
A photo of Don and Brenda Brunelle courtesy of Brenda Brunelle.
To celebrate a homecoming many doctors never thought would happen, Brunelle has invited a band to play what she calls her and Don's theme, "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones. She has also bought 64 balloons to celebrate the 64th birthday Don spent in the hospital. The balloons will be released when he is moved from his hospital stretcher into his wheelchair.
"All friends and family here are going to release 64 balloons into the air, and we're going to give it back to -- the universe for bringing Don home," says Brunelle. "If you believe in God and the angels above that looked over Don, we're sending those balloons up into the heavens to say thank you."