An 11-year-old boy from Bonnyville has died after suffering severe injuries in a fatal collision between a motorcycle and minivan on July 22. The driver of the motorcycle was also killed in the collision.
An 11-year-old boy from Bonnyville has died after suffering severe injuries in a fatal collision between a motorcycle and minivan on July 22. The driver of the motorcycle was also killed in the collision.
Last Tuesday, a motorcycle struck the passenger side of a minivan at the intersection of 44 Street and 45 Avenue in Bonnyville at around 7 p.m.
Passenger Brodie Landry was flown via STARS air ambulance to an Edmonton hospital for treatment where he later died from his injuries. All of the other occupants in the van suffered only minor injuries.
"We are coping. We had some time with Brodie before he was gone and I think that helped," said Carolyn Landry, Brodie's mother. "We have had hundreds of messages showing people's support; people giving their kind words and praying for us. It has been really overwhelming."
Before Brodie passed away the family chose to have his organs donated to those in need.
"It was an easy decision because we know that Brodie would have wanted it. He was a very giving kid," said Landry. "It wasn't something that we really had to think about. We knew right away that it was something we were going to do. He was able to help six people. It brought some good out of a bad situation."
Several community groups have joined forces to help raise money for the Landry family. Ducharme Motors, the Lakeland Credit Union and the Bonnyville Skipperoos will be hosting a charity barbeque and silent auction Wednesday (July 30) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Ducharme Motors.
"We are pretty blown away by the amount of generosity that we have seen in the community in the past few days," said Landry. "The support has been overwhelming."
Twenty-three-year-old Richard Claybert, a Cold Lake resident, and driver of the motorcycle was also killed in the collision.
According to RCMP, witnesses reported the motorcycle was travelling at an excess speed and ignored a yield sign. The driver was not wearing a helmet and was pronounced dead at the scene.
"For whatever reason the operator of the motorcycle didn't stop at the yield sign and went through at a fairly high rate of speed is what we are being told," said Bonnyville RCMP Staff Sergeant Luis Gandolfi. "That (information) is coming from our witnesses at the scene who are reporting hearing an engine racing and the vehicle running through a yield sign."
Local RCMP is continuing to investigate into the collision, however Gandolfi says no charges will be laid.
"There won't be any charges laid in this matter given the fact that the individual who had the responsibility for stopping at the yield sign passed away in the collision," said Gandolfi.
