Bmpact of carnage from (North mmpaired driving . ly oad deaths bre gruesome And avoidable DR. BRUCE Campana’s life mas changed by a dying six- ear-old girl in a Denver hospi- ty Bob Mackin . ntributing Writer Campana, a Vancouver emer- ency surgeon, joked that he spent lalf his time in medical school Memassed out on the floor. After stints fas a general practitioner and an mergency room doctor in Langley, me wanted on-the-job training in a auma centre, An American hospi- » he thought, was ideal “because ericans tend to put a lot of holes themselves.” One day he was called upon by a Pmenior surgeon to test his mettle. “On the stretcher was a litde girl Mvho'd been in the car with her jommy and she had her head out the. Rwvindow watciting the countryside gn yy. “Mom had been drinking and om rolled the car.’ * Campana said. BHer head was caught between the Bar and the side of the road. She lost meparts of) her scalp and her skull and peecr right eye. It was the worst thing at { had ever seen. | take her with me every- here. { cannot put my head out of a moving car indow without thinking about her. I'l! never for- Bet her.” Since then, Campana has devoted a lot of his Aree time to speaking to young people about the angers of drinking and driving. fam = For the past three years he has collaborated auegey ith Vancouver coroner Larry Campbell in a series at chilling, graphic presentations from the “front Maines” of the war against drinking and driving. Campana and Campbell were in North Wancouver ‘Wednesday for presentations to Employees of ICBC. Campana showed photos aken in emergency rooms of drinking and driving ictims, and the procedures that doctors and nurs- use to try to keep them alive. on) news briefs NV woman struck by car 1 A NORTH Vancouver woman is in “You've all seen TV, you've seen the way you look in hospital, there’s a private room with soft lighting and you've and you've got a Mower gown,” Campana said. “Your hitir is perfect, your friends come in and they cry softly and thes “Hf tell you how much they love you. Is touch and go for a while —- but, man, you pull out and sou're OK. “It’s kinda like this, actually.” he said, Nashing a bloodied, mangled torso on the screen. “Three questions: young or old. male or female, dead or alive?” There wasn’t a sound in the room. Many turned their heads away after a brief glance at the horrific photo. “It's a 55-year-old lady who was alive at the time of this picture. But she died 10 minutes later.” Campbell took the microphone and gave a brief Senior plans Ottawa walk Break for less fortunate sought NEWS phote Mike Wahkatisid THE HORRORS of drinking and diiving accidents were conveyed to ICBC employees ‘Wednesday by trauma surgeon Or. Bruce Campana (above) and Vancouver coroner Larry Campbell. tour of the city morgue and recounted something he has todo all too often: deliver vews of a drunk driving death to a family. “Pro the coroner and my job is to answer ques- tions about death, and they ask me why. E know why. but it's 3 o'clock in the moming, and I'm not going to tell them that their child is dead because they were stupid. This is not rocket science, this is straight common-sense adult decision-making” Campbell said he wast there to talk about drinking or to moralize. “AJ fm asking you to do is stay out of that car if you've been drinking, stay out of the car if somebody else is drinking. Every time one of you dies and we bave to pick you up. we lose a chunk of ourselves. Quite frankly we don't know how many chunks we have left. Be careful Shore home hard to find From page 4 She’s been on a list for B.C. Housing for five years and they've found possibilities for her in Surrey and Coquitlam. But Scott, who's Segally blind and has been in and out of the hospital in the past month, doesn’t want to leave the North Shore, where she’s spent most of her life. Her family’s here, she enjoys her volunteer work at the Lynn Valley Legion, she’s familiar with the area and its traffic pat- terns and is near her doctors at the hospital Scott's fandlords have asked her to feave by Jan. 1 because they want io sel) their Lynn Valicy house, but have said Scott can stay until she finds a new home. “The landlord does not want to push me out on the street” she said. Scott says she’s quiet. very clean and fooks after the land- lords’ house when they're away. She has a cat, a canary and a couple of guinea pigs in addition to Ellie, but she will find new homes for some of the animals if she has to. “IT don't need to take afl these animals with me.’ Scott said. “My guide dog and my canary and I'm happy.” Scatt’s $750 monthly govern- ment cheque allows her to spend $400 to $450 a month on rent, she said. For one-bedroom apartments, the vacancy rate in North Vancouver City is .3%, in Novth Vancouver District .6% and in West Vancouver .2%. ae critical condition in Lions Gate We Hospital after being struck by a car @ on Monday morning. : Kathieen Frances Williams, 48, was hit at the intersection of East Third Street and Moody Avenue at approximately 7:30 aim. She was crossing north on Third Street in the crosswalk and was struck by a west- enon. In fact, she planned to embark on her adventure earlier this year, but sickness prevented her from Jeaving on time and “if you don't leave on May 4, it’s too late.” She's upset with a system that. in her opinion, favors immigrants over needy Canadians. FLORENCE LARSON is preparing for a trek that will be anything but a walk in the park. By Robert Galster Contributing Writer bound vehicle. She suffered head injuries and numerous broken bones on the right side of her body after she was thrown about 30 metres. North Vancouver RCMP are inves- “ tigating the accident. Accident stops bridge traffic TRAFFIC ON the Lions Gate Bridge was temporarily halted Monday night when a northbound vehicle swerved and hit a car traveling in the opposite direction. The accident happened shortly after 83:41 p.m., mid-span on the a bridge. One person was injured and sent to Lions Gate Hospital with a concus- sion and neck injuries. The person had to be extricated from the vehicle i with a “jaws of life’ device. Damage is estimated at $10,000. No charges were laid to press time. Larson is preparing to walk to Ottawa in May to raise both aware- ness and funds for the plight of those Canadians she considers less fortu- nate. “The seniors. the poor and the disabled cannot live with dignity... they cannot even die with dignity.” said Larson, who at 64 considers her own tight situation lucky, Larson sees the local senior. impoverished and handicapped pop- ulations as getting the short end of the stick. She wants to help to change that. “The rents are too high and the food too expensive for those on fixed incomes.” said Larson who herself survives on $1,100 per month and pays $650 in rent. To deal with this problem she has a solution in mind: “I want to see the federal government make munici- palities roll back land taxes in order to get lower rents.” Larson doesn’t think the plight of seniors or the poor is anew phenom “They (immigrants) can go to welfare and be welcomed with open arms.” suid Larson. “While people from the East are coming here and (B.C. Social Services Minister) Joy McPhail said they'll be given one- way tickets back ... [didn't think we had any international borders here.” Noting that she'll be a “tired and haggard old woman” upon her return, she got clearance from her doctor to go for it in the coming year. To make the walk a success, though, Larson says she must find two people to walk with her. The qualifications necessary? “Guts and stamina.” She said a 4,600-kilometre walk is not some- thing to be taken lightly nor under- taken on a whim. She would like someone with a motorhome [to accompany her. Donations to the Larson Walk can be made at the 16th and Lonsdale Avenue branch of the Canadian — Imperial Commerce. Bank — of NEWS phote Brad Ledwidge FLORENCE LARSON plans to raise money for seniors, the poor and the handicapped by walking to Ottawa in May 1896.