3 ~ Wednesday, April 19, 1989 ~ North Shore News TEEN AND HIS FAMILY DEAL WITH HARDSHIPS OF ACCIDENT AFTERMATH Trial continues for Craig Potter THE TRIAL for the man whose vehicle critically in- jured Craig Potter and killed one of his friends has been over for more than a year, but the trial to come to grips with his injuries will never be over for Potter. By TIMOTHY RENSHA' News Reporter And the emotional and financial toll exacted from Potter’s family by the ordeal has been staggering. “It’s been hell since he’s been home,’”’” said Craig’s mother, Kazue Potter, in a recent inter- view. Without the help and support of friends, she said, ‘‘we might not have been able to get through this.”’ Potter exch Steven Oakley were run down iceb. 11, 1987 when a Toyota Tercel, driven by Robert Dale Ternes, jumped a sidewalk in the 1000-block of Montroyal Boulevard. The two were on their way home from school with a group of Handsworth Secondary School students; Ternes, who admitted during his four-day tria] that he had consumed about five glasses of beer at two Vancouver hotels the morning of the accident, was trav- elling westbound down Montroyal when he lost control of his car. He received a 2%-year jail term orn one count of criminal negligence causing death and a concurrent two-year term on one count of criminal negligence caus- ing bodily harm. Ternes was also originally charged with impaired driving causing death and impaired driving causing bodily harm after breathalyzer readings of .210 and .200 were obtained from him upon his release from hospital after the accident. But he was found not guilty on the charges because the samples were taken after the two-hour statutory limit, and the Crown subsequently failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ternes was impaired at the time of the accident. Steven Oakley, 14, was killed in the accident; Potter, also 14 at the time, was critically injured. Steven Oakley’s body was so badly mangled his father had dif- ficulty recognizing his son. Craig Potter underwent two brain operations. Doctors gave him virtually no chance of sur- vival. He spent over 12 months in hospital and rehabilitation. He lived. But Craig Potter will never be Business .........+--.. 21 wee DT the same person he was before the accident. When he first came out of his coma, his mother said he did not even know how to swallow. “He was just like a vegetable,” she said. He still walks with a limp. His left arm is permanently paralysed. showering. “} have a little a baby here,’’ she said. Though he says he has no mem- ory of the accident, Craig wakes in the night haunted by nightmares, and he carries on conversations with the driver by himself in the basement of his home. nal,’ Andrew said, pointing out that facilities available in the community for head-injury victims are extremely limited. “You may,” he said, ‘“‘be able to patch them up physically, but because there is no place for them to go when a family is no longer there or no tonger able to cope ACCIDENT VICTIM Craig Potter throws a fina! shovelful of dirt around the tree he planted April 8 in a small park near Montroyal Boulevard and Cliffridge ‘venue in memory of his friend Steven Oakley. The two were run down at the intersection Feb, 11, 1987. Potter ~vas critically injured; Steven Oakley was killed. He has permanent head injuries that have dramatically changed his personality. Kazue Potter said when her son arrived home from G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre in March 1988, he suffered from wild emo- tional outbursts that were a tremendous drain on her and her daughter, Maryanne. All three were still learning to deal with the grief from the death of Craig's fa- ther, Reg, in 1984. And though he has improved, Craig still suffers memory loss; he is prone to outbursts ef profanity; he has trouble listening; he repeats himself; and his speech is slurred. He will never be able to live on his own, and he will always need medical care. Kazue Potter, a small woman, also had to learn how to physically restrain and move her sun, who still needs help with such mundane daily chores as dressing and Apart from the accident’s physi- cal and em >tional costs, its hard financial ivalities weigh ever heavier on the Potter family. Lawyers are stil] negotiating an overall settleraent for Craig from ICBC. Bill Andrew, a friend of the family, has estisnated Craig will! need approximately $2.5 million to cover his medical and other ex- penses during his lifetime. Estimated budge this year for his physiotherapy azd one-to-one counselling and care alone is around $45,000. The initial $100,000 no-fault in- surance benefit from ICBC has been virtually exhausted by the complex rehabilitation and therapy needed by Craig since the accident. Estimated annual cost of keep- ing Craig in a group home runs to a minimum of $70,000, depending on inflation and the type of home. “The numbers are phencme- with their needs, they end up on their own. They perhaps act inap- propriately in public and then they end up in jail.’’ Though he initially found retur- ning to school and school work ex- tremely difficult and tiring, Craig has made tremendous strides back from the personal wreckage of the accident. His greatest achievements thus far are blessings most of us take for granted. “To be able to walk, to be living at home,”’ he said, ‘‘it’s a dream come true. When | was in hospital, I thought I would be there for the rest of my life.’’ He is currently enrolled in Car- son Graham Secondary School’s skill-building program, which is designed for people with learning disabilities. Maureen Thompson, a_child- care counsellor who specializes in rehabilitating head-injured youth, Body found has worked with Craig extensively since the accident. “This might sound like a cliche,’? she said, ‘‘but he’s basically a miracle, He has made incredible progress.” Once interested in studying to become an archeologist, Craig has necessarily lowered his career am- bitions. Thompson said Craig, who also had the potential to become a good teacher like his father before him, has talked about becoming a social worker so that he can help people in the same way he has been helped. “But he is aware of how tough the road ahead will be,’’ Thomp- son said. “Whatever job he gets will have to involve a great deal of routine and be structured specifically for him.’’ Last week, Craig Potter planted a Ginkgo tree in the small park on the nertheast corner of Montroyal and Cliffridge, near where he and Steven Oakley were run down. The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place in Febru- ary on the anniversary of the acci- dent, but poor weather forced its postponement. Craig conceived the tree-planting as a commemoration of the friend he lost, but it is also a symbol of a future permanently altered and a potential permanently lost. ‘| wanted to do something for my best friend,’’ Craig said. “Something tao remind me of him."’ It is also a way for Craig to assuage the guilt he feels at having survived the accident while Steven was killed. Steven Oakley's father, Barry, said Monday he appreciated the ceremony: “‘It was a nice gesture from them."’ But, while the wounds have healed somewhat, Barry Oakley said the loss of his son has left a permanent gap in his family’s lives. The hardest part of the tragedy to accept, he said, remains the lost potential of a life brutally and suddenly extinguished. “‘What a waste,’’ he said. ‘‘You always wonder, well, what would have been? He was a beautiful, fine boy. We have lost the chance to see him grow. That's really sad.” Kazue Potter is stoic and blunt about the results of the accident that took the life of one young man and forever changed the life of another. “Ht is hard to say which is more difficult,” she said. ‘‘They (the Oakleys) lost a son, but we lost something, too. In one way, they have peace. We have a constant fight.’’ Classified Ads..... THE BODY of a North Vancouver woman was re- covered from West Van- Food.......0-.-- 0 OO couver waters at the foot of Lifestyles..............47 3ist Street Monday after- ie TV lListings.......... . 3B noon. West Vancouver : ; ’ Police have identified the What's Going On.....-.. 82 victim as 57-year-old Norma June Pagan. The cause of death is under investigation, WEATHER Wednesday, cloudy with a few showers. Thursday, perieds of rain. Highs near 13°C. Second Class Registration Number 3885 NEWS photo Nell Lucente