GoFundMe set up for Sask. man injured in U.S. crash

A Saskatchewan man is recovering following a crash south of the border.

Lafleche resident Sylvain Senecal was travelling down Highway 59 south of Gillette, Wyo. in his 40-foot transport truck to pick up vehicles from an auction.

His oldest son, Maxime Boucher-Senecal, said a car came to an abrupt stop in front of his dad, causing him to hit the ditch and roll.

“He had his seatbelt off and he got tossed around,” Boucher-Senecal said. “His back was broken in four different places, his neck is broken, he broke his sternum, his lungs collapsed and his heart was bruised.”

His son explained Senecal had taken off his seatbelt when he realized he was hitting the ditch because he used to drive truck for a living and saw another driver die because they were stuck inside the vehicle due to the seatbelt.

Boucher-Senecal said there was an EMT just ahead of his father at the time of the crash, and they rushed out to help him. They took him to a hospital in Billings, Mont. where he spent time in intensive care.

He has since been transported to the General Hospital in Regina.

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family with expenses they might incur since Sylvain won’t be able to work. He has two young children, a six-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy.

Boucher-Senecal said since the injury, his dad has been able to get up and walk for a metre.

“He’s slowly recovering, but it’s going to take a long time for him to be able to walk again and get back on his feet and do what he does,” his son said.

According to the GoFundMe page, the driver ahead of Sylvain at the time of the crash has reached out to the man’s family. He told them if the truck driver hadn’t swerved into the ditch, Sylvain wouldn’t be alive.

The goal of the campaign is to raise $15,000. As of 12:54 p.m. on May 24, the campaign has raised nearly $10,500.