Crash kills parents, sends boys to hospital

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This article was published 22/11/2010 (5105 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FIVE Winnipeg boys were orphaned after a crash on a highway in eastern Saskatchewan Sunday morning that sent four of them to hospital, two of them with serious injuries.

Marcel and Brenda Dubois, both 38, were pronounced dead at the scene after a westbound car collided with their eastbound minivan while attempting to pass another vehicle on Hwy 16, near the community of Saltcoats.

Two of their five sons, a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old, were airlifted to a Regina hospital in critical condition. Two others, a 16-year-old and a nine-year-old, were taken to a Yorkton hospital for treatment.

The collision occurred as the family was returning from a taekwondo tournament in Yorkton. A fifth son, 19, did not make the trip and stayed behind in Winnipeg.

The Dubois family has been a mainstay at Iron Fist Tae Kwon Do for the past three years. Coreen Goodchild, head instructor at Iron Fist, said the Dubois boys were “absolutely fabulous” and their parents were devoted to both them and to their sport.

“They donated time, they did fundraising. They were absolutely devoted to the family and for their family succeeding in this sport,” she said.

Goodchild said Iron Fist is setting up a trust account for the five boys, likely at Scotiabank, and is accepting donations at its location at 675 Archibald Street. Plans are also underway to host a fundraiser, likely in a month or two.

“When you lose your parents, you lose your income,” she said.

Saltcoats is approximately 24 km southeast of Yorkton. The driver of the car, a 17-year-old woman from Yorkton, also died at the scene.

Wayne Mitchell, master instructor at Kees Taekwondo, which hosted the weekend tournament, said the crash could have been even worse as a vehicle carrying four other competitors was following the Dubois family and clipped their minivan after the initial impact and ended up in the ditch.

He said between 30 and 40 people from Winnipeg have returned to Yorkton after the crash to spend time with the injured and mourn the loss of the Dubois parents.

“Everybody has been stepping up to give them a place to stay,” he said. “They were travelling in a convoy and they had to come back. Some of them stayed with the kids at the hospital, some of them stayed at our house and wherever we could put them up. We had mattresses put out for them at the taekwondo school.”

Yorkton RCMP spokesman Cpl. Randy Wittig described the road conditions on the undivided highway at the time of the collision as “snow-covered and visibility was reduced.”

He said RCMP collision analysts have attended the scene and the crash is under investigation.

Wittig said it was a horrendous weekend on Saskatchewan’s roadways, with a total of 10 people dying in three separate accidents.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca