THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Last Monday was a day that Kathy Shyiak will never forget.
Shyiak was stopped at a red light on her way home in Thunder Bay — on Balsam Street in the left turn lane. As the advanced green came up, the truck across the highway in the left turn lane started “going crazy” with his lights.
The continual flashing lights caught Shyiak’s attention, causing her to delay hitting the gas.
“All of a sudden this transport just speeds by me – ran the red light not even trying to stop,” she said.
In that moment Shyiak felt like she was paralyzed. She was in shock and could not believe what had happened.
She knew the driver across the highway had been warning her of what was about to happen.
“They saved my life. They absolutely saved my life. I have to thank them for not being busy and seeing that the transport had no intention of stopping.
“They were watching the highway and saw that, then saw me with the light about to turn green. And if it was not for him doing that, I would have been killed on impact,” she said.
Shyiak described the transport as a white unmarked transport truck.
“I did go back to that intersection and I realized that it's really hard for the person turning left (going westbound) to have a clear view.”
Shiak said the area should be cleared of bush to help with visibility.
There should be "Prepare to stop" flashing lights for people travelling eastbound, Shyiak said.
“There's one travelling westbound, but it doesn't make sense to me why there isn't one going eastbound.
“Does it have to take a fatality for them to put one up?” she said.
The whole scenario runs through Shyiak’s mind all the time.
“If it wasn't for that other driver, flashing those lights, I would have just turned. It replays in my head over and over at that moment when he flashed his lights.
“Once the transport passed, I couldn't move for a minute and then I just waved, I just continued to wave to that driver on the other side of Balsam and then he put his hand out the window and gave me the thumbs up and then waved back to me. I turned onto the highway and drove home.”
If it was not for the other driver doing that, she would have been killed on impact, Shyiak said.
“It was not even a question. My car would have been in Vance Chapman School. That's how fast the transport was going."
Shyiak wants to express her gratitude to the person who caught her attention in that moment.
“I want to say thank you for doing that and saving my life.
“But I think it's a long shot. I'll never find them, but I wish I could say thank you.”
After this situation happened, Shyiak said she has been trying to look at the positive.
“I need to accept that it wasn't my time and that I have an angel watching over me. I just have to try and think about the positive of it, that I did have somebody looking out for me, that I did not step on the gas, that I did not turn at that time and then that transport passed me.
“I’m thinking about the positive of the whole situation and not what could have been because that didn't happen. It's me processing in my mind the good of the whole event.
“It really has changed the way that I view drivers and the way that I drive now. I was really anxious for the first couple of days of even driving, looking over my shoulder, looking and panning the area. But slowly it's getting better.
“I was one gas pedal forward away from losing my life if it wasn't for that driver.”
