1 month later, a Lapu-Lapu Day witness and victim reflect on their experiences
Rosadene Alcala Apeles and Christi-Ann Watkins say B.C. needs more mental health supports
Rosadene Alcala Apeles was thinking of packing their jewelry booth at the end of the Lapu-Lapu Day festival just over a month ago when they spotted an SUV driving very quickly towards them.
Apeles says their table was located close to the unprotected barrier that closed off 43rd Avenue for food trucks and vendors at the festival.
"I saw that black SUV — it was coming in pretty hot, and I felt like, this is a school zone. Why is it going so fast?" they told CBC's On the Coast host Gloria Macarenko.
"And then the car just didn't stop."
Apeles heard tires screeching. And then the car raced out of view.
They soon realized they had just witnessed the first injury and the first casualty that took place that evening.
'I am a different person than I was'
It's been just over a month since the Lapu-Lapu Day festival tragedy occurred on April 26. Eleven people were killed, and dozens more were injured.
The victims include a mother visiting her sons from the Philippines, a family that had come to Canada to escape violence in Colombia, another family that left behind a 16-year-old son who had stayed home that day, and a high school teacher.
Kai-Ji Adam Lo, 30, has since been charged with eight counts of second-degree murder in connection with the crash.
Witnesses and those who were injured at the event say they are still recovering — mentally and physically — from what they saw and experienced.
"I think that fundamentally I am a different person than I was at the start of that day," Apeles said. "I have come to terms that this event is going to be part of who I am, whether that be for the better or the worse."
Some witnesses and victims also say the past month has been a time to reflect: about their community, their families and the state of mental health care in B.C.
Apeles, who works as a mental health support worker and harm reduction specialist, says the tragedy has underscored the need for more support for those suffering from mental illness.
"If we want a healthy society where these tragedies don't happen, we need to acknowledge that we can't sweep these tragedies under the rug," they said.
"The people who enabled this to happen have to apologize. They have to make commitments to do better."
'This was a car that hit you'
Christi-Ann Watkins, 43, performed and helped produce the show at the festival. Her 11-year-old son Knox had performed as well.
They had just wrapped up at the main stage and decided to grab a bite to eat at one of the food vendors. She was feeling happy about how well everything had turned out.
"The vibe was great," Watkins told BC Today host Michelle Eliot. "Although Lapu-Lapu was tragic, it was still a beautiful day for so many people."
Watkins says she was standing near the vendors, holding her son's hand, when out of nowhere she was hit from behind.
"I didn't see this car, didn't hear this car, nothing," she said.
"And I remember mentally processing what was happening to me that just all of a sudden I just got hit and my brain understood it as, 'This was a car that hit you.'"
'Things could be a lot worse'
Watkins fell to the ground. Her whole body was in pain, and it hurt to breathe. She says she just told herself to keep her eyes open and keep breathing.
Someone quickly put pressure on her head because she was bleeding. An arm's length away, people were trying to resuscitate a girl with no pulse.
She panicked and reached out, worried it was her son. Just then, a friend came up and told her not to worry. She had Knox, and he was safe.
Watkins was put in an ambulance and sent to Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster. She says she maintained consciousness through it all.
Her injuries included a laceration due to blunt force trauma to her head, fractured vertebrae in her neck, fractured ribs, pelvis and knee. She also had a punctured lung, laceration to her spleen and kidney, and road rash from her ankles all the way up to her head.
"I'm very aware of the fact that I'm still here and things could be a lot worse," she said.
'I'm here to tell it'
Watkins was in hospital for 10 days.
She expected to be there for months. While she was there, she accepted a steady stream of visitors, which she credits for her recovery.
Hopped up on painkillers, she recounted what happened hundreds of times.
"I don't find it daunting," she said. "I just need people to know what happened because I'm here to tell it."
Back at home, Watkins still very much struggles with the pain from her injuries. She says it doesn't take much to leave her exhausted. Her husband is on leave from his job to care for her.
Focus on the present
Despite what happened to her, Watkins says she has chosen not to let anger overcome her.
Instead, she is focusing on having a second chance with her family and the present. And also, the outpouring of love and support from her community.
A month later, she says, fundraisers are still happening. The support is still there.
But Watkins isn't leaving negative emotions out entirely. Like Apeles, she is critical of B.C.'s mental health system.
"He needs help, too," she said of the suspect, Kai-Ji Adam Lo.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Michelle Eliot and On the Coast