They started the day as strangers, but the events of March 29, 2015, will forever connect three people from southeastern Manitoba.

Rheal and Odile Dubois of Ste.Anne were driving north down Highway 12 after visiting their son near Vita. Shortly after passing Provincial Road 205 a car traveling in the opposite direction hit them head-on.

Odile recalls yelling at the top of her lungs after impact, wondering if this is how her life would end, and screaming for the vehicle not to roll. Eventually, it came to a rest.

That other vehicle was being driven by Tyler Voth of Mitchell. Voth, who was on his way to visit his girlfriend says he remembers very little from the crash. He says he recalls seeing headlights but nothing else until he woke up in a hospital bed two weeks later.

Injuries were extensive to all three involved. Voth suffered from collapsed lungs, a broken knee, femur and hip, five fractured ribs, lacerated liver, broken wrist, shattered thumb and a broken nose. It took at least sixty minutes for emergency personnel to remove him from his vehicle and he was then air lifted to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg by STARS air ambulance.

Odile had a crushed tibia and fibula, damaged knee cap and cracked rib cage. Her body would reject the plates inserted, leading to infection. She was transported by ground ambulance to Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach and later transferred to Health Sciences Centre.

(Tyler Voth)As for Rheal, his injuries included a damaged femur, tailbone and spine. He was brought to Ste.Anne hospital and later transferred to Boundary Trails.

Voth takes responsibility for the collision but says he has no idea what triggered it. All three say the driving conditions were great that day.

"I have no memory of how it happened," he says. "I'm kind of mad at myself for what happened, but I can't remember what I was doing at the time."

For Voth, the split second crash was a life changing experience. Just five days earlier he had signed papers with the military. In about three weeks time he was scheduled to leave for basic training.

"That accident put a stop to everything," he says. "It had been my dream for a long time to go to the military."

Voth spent six weeks in hospital. He was confined to a wheelchair for a month and a half while he learned how to walk again. Physiotherapy lasted nine months. Because his dream was infantry in the military, he couldn't do the basic training and is now on medical release. Voth admits the emotional recovery was tougher than the physical recovery.

Though an incident like this could cause bitterness, Rheal Dubois says it never once crossed his mind to resent or blame the person responsible for his near death. In fact, he decided early on that the three crash victims should meet and talk about their experience. About a year ago they shed some tears over coffee. Rheal says he clearly remembers the sincerity of Voth.

(Odile Dubois recovering)"He was saying when we met him the first time it was his fault what happened," he recalls. "I told him you can't blame yourself, it was an accident. I said the main thing we're together to talk about it."

Today, the three of them are friends.

Earlier this year, the Dubois couple decided to host an appreciation barbecue for the many emergency personnel who helped save their lives two years earlier. The list included firefighters from Grunthal, Kleefeld and Steinbach, as well as EMS, RCMP and STARS.

"We thought that would be a great way for them to meet with us and talk with us in a different atmosphere other than the accident," explains Odile.

Voth says it was a wonderful experience to meet those who helped remove him from the wreck.

"It was good to hear their view and it was good to see the smile on their face, knowing that I was still here," says Voth. "Because the condition I was in, they didn't necessarily know if I was going to be alive or not."

Paul Wiebe is Fire Chief for Hanover. He says they sometimes receive letters from crash victims, but to be invited to an appreciation barbecue like this is extremely rare. Wiebe says for a fire department to feel appreciated in this way, can be a big help.

(Rheal Dubois recovering)"Some years it gets to be pretty hectic with the amounts of calls they go on, the types of calls," admits Wiebe. "Something like this really helps, it helps to get to see the other side of it and getting to meet the people that you were helping is really beneficial to them."

Wiebe says the fact that only one of the three crash victims requires the use of a cane for walking today, is remarkable. He recalls showing up at the scene that night prepared for at least one fatality. According to Wiebe, removing Voth from his car was one of the most tasking extrications his crews had attempted in many years. Not only was the car mangled, but because the airbags were not all deployed, it placed an immediate risk to emergency personnel.

And Wiebe says it is great to see that two years later, the three of them can hug and call each other friend.

"I don't think that anybody really goes out in the morning wanting to have an accident and cause such drastic changes to somebody else's life," says Wiebe. "To open up and just forgive people for the mistakes that were made, is just fantastic and I think it's a great start to healing emotionally as well."

(Appreciation barbecue)

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