One-of-a kind VW bug totalled in crash after driver is released from N.S. ER
Dave Piccott, 79, was recently in a serious motor vehicle collision, but was lucky enough to walk away relatively unscathed.
"I gotta say thank you for the airbags, because they did, they did save me," said Piccott outside the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax.
But his custom Volkswagen Beetle, which he had spent two years creating, was not so lucky.
"That was number one to me, the car, it was always about the car, right?" says Piccott.
Last year, CTV Atlantic got to see just what made that car, and its owner, truly unique.
The green Beetle's bells and whistles often turned heads in the native Newfoundlander’s adopted home of Lower Sackville, N.S., sparking smiles along the way.
"Dad used to always say when people would come up to talk about it, 'you know what? This is to make you smile,'" says his daughter Melissa Johnson. "And that's what meant the most to Dad."
Now, Johnson has launched an online fundraising campaign and is hoping to raise the funds to help her father make another special vehicle.
"Just to start over because after the accident," she says. "He was more worried about the fact that he lost his car than himself!"
While she's relieved Piccott was OK, she is upset with the circumstances which she says led to the collision.
Johnson says her father had been at the Cobequid Community Health Centre emergency department with a high fever, and then was sent home because the department closes at midnight.
"And then he gets up in the morning and seemed OK, and the drive from our house to Cobequid is three minutes, and within those three minutes, he passed out, due to the spike in the fever, and crashed," she says.
"I should never, never have been sent home in that hospital when they didn't know what my problem was, I was in there with a serious problem, and they just sent me home," adds Piccott, saying he had been at the hospital previously with fainting issues which should have been in his medical records.
When asked about its policy for sending patients home from an emergency department, a spokesperson for Nova Scotia Health replied in a statement.
"Because Cobequid emergency department closes each evening, there is an overcapacity plan, which involves identifying when the number of patients waiting to be seen exceeds the resources available to provide care prior to closing," writes John W. Gillis, media relations director.
"The doctors and nurses use the triage guidelines to ensure that those who are the most acute are seen and provided care; those that require an immediate assessment are seen by the physician and then provided with direction regarding next steps, either returning the next day or presenting to another emergency department."
The statement continues, "Those who do not require an immediate assessment can return the next day. Patients are provided with this information throughout the evening at the site and always have the opportunity to leave Cobequid and present to another emergency department."
Piccott says he’s just glad no one else was hurt.
"Lucky enough, when I had the accident," he says, "it was only me - that could have been so different."
He’s now determined to get another VW Beetle.
"You will see me. I will be coming down that road again, with a smile on my face," he says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Demonstrators kicked out of Ontario legislature for disruption after failed keffiyeh vote
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
BREAKING Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
Vancouver's all-star goaltender won't be in net Tuesday evening, the Canucks' coach has confirmed to TSN.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.