DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - The last image Father Wes Szatanski has from before his accident is of the back of a semi-trailer.

Szatanski, the Roman Catholic priest for the Deh Cho, was driving from Yellowknife to Fort Providence on the evening of Jan. 17 having just taken his Dodge Dakota in for servicing and repairs.

Father Wes Szatanski was pinned in his truck for more than three hours after colliding with a parked semi-trailer on Highway 3, 15 kilometre north of the Fort Providence turn-off. - photo courtesy of Susan Christie

"It was really dark that night," Szatanski recalls.

He didn't see the semi-trailer until he was almost upon it.

A day earlier a transport truck had developed engine trouble on the way to Yellowknife. The driver turned around and was trying to reach the Big River Service Centre when the engine seized, stranding the truck and trailer on the southbound shoulder of Highway 3.

The driver, who'd returned on Monday night with another driver and truck, was trying to switch the trailer to the new vehicle when Szatanski's headlights illuminated the scene. Szatanski said he was driving between 80 and 90 km per hour because the highway was slippery when he saw the warning pylons and the trailer.

When Szatanski lightly pressed on his breaks to slow down his truck lost traction. He remembers trying to steer left away from the transport trailer only to see two men near the path of his truck.

"I was afraid I could hit them," he said.

Szatanski veered right with the plan of driving into the ditch on the right side of the trailer. Szatanski remembers thinking at the worst he would spend an hour or so digging out of the snow.

"The last picture in my mind I have is the back of the trailer," he said.

Instead of driving into the ditch, Szatanski collided with the trailer, lodging the hood of his truck under it. His next memory is of sitting in the truck with blood running down his face and his legs pinned under the dash.

In a state of shock, Szatanski tried to get out of the truck but couldn't move his seat. The two truck drivers immediately offered assistance, trying to open the truck's doors.

"I am very grateful to both of them. They really saved my life," said Szatanski who doesn't know either man's name.

After realizing the extent of the damage one of the men drove to the Big River Service Station, approximately 15 kilometres away, to alert the RCMP.

"I was totally in shock," said Szatanski. "I knew I was alive. I knew I needed help. I knew it was coming."

Szatanski has endless praise for the professionalism and skills of the two RCMP officers, the six Fort Providence volunteer firefighters, the nurse and the ambulance driver who helped rescue him.

"They were superb to me. In a time of need you couldn't get better care."

The responders put blankets on Szatanski, who was only wearing a sweater and pants, to keep him warm in the -30 C weather. One responder held his head and kept him talking while the others worked for more than three hours using hydraulic rescue tools to free him from the truck.

"I felt totally safe," said Szatanski who wasn't aware of how much time was passing.

Despite the seriousness of the crash, Szatanski emerged from the truck with only a few bruises and scrapes and a damaged bone in his right leg that is expected to take six to eight weeks to heal.

"I believe God saved my life," he said.

Szatanski, who's in Yellowknife, but could be back in Fort Simpson as early as Jan. 31, plans to take the next few weeks to recover and reflect on how precious life is. Although he'll continue to drive throughout the Deh Cho to visit various churches Szatanski said he'll be more cautious and avoid driving at night.

Szatanski thanked everyone from Fort Providence and the region who contacted him with well wishes after the accident and kept him in their prayers.

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