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Brand new bike donated to 6-year-old Regina girl injured in crash

Jasmine Markel was surprised with a new bike thanks to a local business after being hit by a truck in August

Jasmine Markel was heading home on her bike on a summer afternoon when a driver, distracted by a shout, struck her. She was lucky to escape with only a broken hip and multiple bruises. Initially doctors thought her injuries might be life threatening.

“The truck was travelling down Northwest Boulevard and the bicycle came out of the high school parking lot and into the path of the truck,” Const. Garth Tomaschefski, a collision reconstructionist with the Regina Police Service said to the Regina Leader-Post.

“Somebody yelled at Jasmine to watch out and be careful and it actually distracted the driver,” Tomaschefski explained. “The driver looked towards the voice, which took her attention away from where Jasmine was actually coming from.”

No charges were laid against the driver.

The six-year-old’s bike was totaled in the Aug. 22 crash. Despite the severe injuries and long road to recovery, it was the loss of her bike that was most upsetting to Markel.

“She’d just gotten that bike (the one destroyed in the crash),” her mother Erin told the Leader-Post. “Her bike was stolen and then we got her a new bike and two days after that this accident happened. She was very upset. It was funny — she was more worried about her bike than herself.

On Tuesday, things were made a little bit better for a recovering Markel. Following a physiotherapy appointment, her parents brought her to Dutch Cycle.

Thanks to the Dutch Cycle vise-president Fred Vandelinden, a brand new lime green Kona Makena was waiting for her. “This is going to replace the one that we can’t fix. The thing about this bike is that it is a big-girl bike,” he said. Along with the bike was a new aqua helmet to replace the one which broke protecting her head during the crash.

Markel was  ecstatic giggling and giving Vandelinden multiple high-fives. Her mother was also touched with tears running down her face as her joyful daughter received her new bike.

Vandelinden offered to donate the bike and helmet after the Regina Police Service told him how devastated the six-year-old was about the loss of her bike. Giving her a new helmet was also important to Vandelinden.

“From what we heard from the officers, the helmet was the primary reason we were able to do this act of kindness and if I can do it again, I’d love to,” he said adding that it’s important to show kindness to the community which supports his business.

 

“The smile on her face tells it all,” Markel’s father Cameron said. “It’s turning a bad thing into something good. I was home and I was the first person at her side. I had to administer first aid on my daughter.”

The new bike and helmet helps the family move forward. Markel is looking forward to getting on her new ride and already it’s helping her get past the crash. “I love that bike,” she said.