Family members and friends are rallying around a 29-year-old single mother of two suffering from serious injuries following a vehicle collision Sunday morning in Saanich.
“Her mother and I are hoping that she can pull through this,” said Daryl Pettinger of his daughter Vanessa Pettinger. “She is a strong girl. I know that she can do this.”
According to information Daryl Pettinger had posted on his personal Facebook site, his daughter has undergone surgery to remove pressure on her brain.
She is currenty receiving treatment in a local intensive care unit for brain and head injuries and is said to be in critical condition, according to the GoFundMe campaign has been raising funds since Sunday.
“I was actually very amazed,” said Pettinger, adding he, his wife and other daughter have received incredible support.
Vanessa Pettinger’s two children, a girl and a boy, are currently with their father, said Pettinger.
Pettinger, a resident of Central Saanich according to Saanich Police, was the sole passenger in the vehicle that struck a tree on Burnside Road West at around 2:30 a.m. The driver was a 28-year-old Saanich man.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, said acting Sgt. Jereme Leslie.
“Our [investigators] are still working with our crash analysts to determine the cause of the crash,” he said. “This could take several months to collate all the data they’ve collected [and] continue to collect.”
When Saanich Police arrived, both the driver and Pettinger were still inside the vehicle, according to Saanich Police.
Crews had to extract the passenger, said Leslie.