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‘The physical impact of this has been devastating’ Scott Stanfield Record Staff
Just the pressure of a blanket could be unbearable as Molly Burton described the state of her lower leg: the “cratered” ankle, the fibula in pieces and the tibia that “exploded from her leg.” A full gallery at the Courtenay courthouse heard how four surgeries were required to clean the dirt and brambles from her wounds following a hit-and-run that has confined the 25-yearold Comox Valley resident to a wheelchair. “The physical impact of this
Court hears victim impact statements from those affected by 2013 hit-and-run case has been devastating,” Burton said in a victim impact statement Friday at a sentencing hearing at BC Supreme Court. “It was the worst kind of pain.” Burton suffered critical injuries to her lower right leg and right arm when she was struck by a vehicle on Comox (Dyke) Road around 11:30 p.m. Sept. 11, 2013. The 16-year-old driver, now 17, cannot be named because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The teen has entered a guilty plea for
leaving the scene of an accident causing bodily harm. After being struck, Burton lay in brush for about four hours, 40 minutes screaming for help “until I broke my vocal chords. I was terrified and I was trapped,” she said. Police were dispatched but unable to locate Burton. Shortly before 4 a.m., Brody Fullerton, who was on his boat across the water near the Courtenay Airpark, came to her rescue when
he heard her screams. He crossed the 17th Street bridge by bike and used a flashlight to locate her. Burton was transported by ambulance to St. Joseph’s Hospital, then airlifted to a Victoria hospital. The suspect vehicle, a Chrysler, was found abandoned at Comox Logging and Bevan roads. Its lights were on and it was emanating smoke. Crown lawyer Richard Ellsay said the driver has admitted shotgunning two beers with friends on the night of the accident. The accused was driving in the lane farthest from the water when
the car struck a concrete barrier, crossed the centre line and struck Burton, who was walking on the water side of Dyke Road towards Comox. “My life is in limbo,” Burton said. “Everything is frustrating and exhausting.” Members of her family also delivered statements. Her younger sister, Kelly, said her studies have suffered while traveling back and forth from Vancouver to Victoria. Burton’s mother, Leslie Wells, recalls a “jolt of awareness” when doctors listed her daughter’s injuries.
... see BURTON ■ 6
Record columnist wins international award for her book on cougars e-mail, I let out a little shriek and started laughing and almost crying at the same time. “I’m exceedingly honoured. The Courtenay writer Paula Wild’s most recent book won a gold in amount of books that they had to the 2013 IndieFab Book of the look at to narrow it down, even to a shortlist — I was amazed I Year Awards. made the shortlist The Cougar: — so to have actuBeautiful, Wild and ally gotten the gold Dangerous received I was totally was astounding.” top honours in the surprised...I let out Wild, who has Adult Nonfiction freelanced for the Nature category of a little shriek and arts section of Forward Reviews’ started laughing the Comox Valley annual awards, after months of and almost crying at Record for more than 25 years, deliberation by the same time. released The Coua panel of librarPaula Wild gar in September, ians and bookselland it was very well ers from across the U.S. The awards were announced received by the public. It made June 27 at the American Library the BC Bestseller List, received Association Annual Conference in strong reviews and was shortLas Vegas. Wild found out via listed for the BC Book Prizes’ Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice e-mail. “I was totally surprised,” she Award. said Friday. “It was in the subject ... see WILD ■ 6 line and, before I even read the Renee Andor Record Staff
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PAULA WILD signs copies of her book The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous at a recent promotional appearance at the Nanaimo Museum. PHOTO SUBMITTED
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