As a community reels following a semi truck vs. hockey team bus crash that left fifteen dead and fourteen hurt, tens of thousands of people have come together online to show support for the unidentified truck driver involved in the crash.
Last Friday night, a bus carrying 29 people — including members of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team — collided at an intersection with a semi truck hauling peat moss on Highway 35 in rural Saskatchewan. Fifteen bus passengers were killed and more than a dozen more injured.
The truck driver wasn’t seriously injured but did receive mental health assistance after the crash.
Police have said that it’s too early to determine the cause of the crash.
While much of the focus has been on the deaths of the young hockey players, tens of thousands of people have joined forces online to remind the truck driver that he has their compassion and support as well.
A letter to the unnamed truck driver has appeared on both Reddit and Facebook and has been liked and shared more than 100,000 times. It reads:
Dear Saskatchewan Truck Driver,
As we all sit back and contemplate everything that has occurred since the collision and start to process the massive emotional impact of the death of 15 people, I want you to know you are in our minds too. Please know that some of us are thinking of you as well.
Although the exact cause of the collision and the events leading up to it remain unknown to us, we do know that you didn’t set out to do harm as you turned the ignition that fateful day.
You survived. You need help to overcome this tragic incident that is also taking a significant toll on your and your family’s wellbeing. I sincerely hope you will be able to heal, and I know that other Canadians wish the same.
From the heart,
A fellow Canadian.
The letter has opened up an important online discussion about the emotional burden that truck drivers bear after being involved in a crash.