KANGIQLINIQ/RANKIN INLET
The early morning hours of July 30 had a nasty surprise in store for the Sharp family in Rankin Inlet.

Pelagie Sharp stands next to the first qamutiik made by her 16-year-old son, Keith, that was crushed up against the side of the house when a truck ran into her home during the early -morning hours of July 30 in Rankin Inlet. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Pelagie Sharp and her four children were in bed for the night when a truck slammed into the side of their home at 2 a.m.

Sharp said the truck hit their home just outside her son's room with a huge bang, waking everyone in the house.

She said Keith, 16, looked out his window to see the vehicle backing up and, for one heart-stopping moment, he thought there was more to come.

"For a second Keith thought the truck was backing up for a second round to run at the house again," said Pelagie.

"I wasn't wearing my glasses and couldn't tell what the heck was going on at first, then Keith and my 14-year-old daughter, Marjorie, ran upstairs to tell me someone had hit the house.

"They were both absolutely freaked out.

"I looked out my dining-room window on the second level and saw the truck driving off."

Pelagie said she went down to check the back of the house to find the first qamutiik Keith had ever built crushed against the side of their home.

She said her neighbours also heard the impact and came outside to see what had happened.

"There were about 10 kids outside who came rushing over to tell me they saw two girls in the truck that had hit the house.

"I later found out a bylaw officer had reported the same vehicle, being driven erratically, to the RCMP about 45 minutes prior to it hitting our house and suggested it should be pulled over by the police.

"You could see the swerves on the road all the way from Leo Ussak School.

"It came close to hitting the Sigurdson family's shed before crashing into my house."

Pelagie said the RCMP officers on duty were dealing with another incident at the time, but arrived on the scene as soon as they could.

She said they were very supportive, snapped photos of the scene, and took statements from her and a neighbour.

"They were super swamped with other calls that morning, but they did tell me they'd let me know if they caught the driver.

"I still haven't heard anything but, more importantly, we have to put an end to the drinking and driving that goes on in our community."

Pelagie said getting people who drink and drive off of the roads in Rankin needs to be a total community effort.

She said it's not a problem just a handful of people can solve.

"If you go up and watch during the teenage dances, you'll see drunk teens drinking booze out of Gatorade bottles and we all know that booze is coming from bootleggers.

"Everyone needs to do their part to battle the problem with drunk drivers in our community.

"It's not only teens drinking and driving in Rankin either, and, if we don't solve the problem soon, we'll all be going to a funeral."

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