DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - The Roman Catholic priest for the Deh Cho is in stable condition following a vehicle collision.

Wes Satanski: Priest injured in accident on Highway 3 last Sunday.

Father Wes Satanski was travelling from Yellowknife to Fort Providence on Jan. 17 in a mid-sized pick-up truck when he collided with a parked semi-trailer at approximately 10 p.m. The transport truck had experienced engine troubles on Highway 3 on the way to Yellowknife on Sunday afternoon, according to a RCMP press release.

The transport truck's driver had turned around and attempted to drive back to the Big River Service Centre when the engine seized, leaving the truck and trailer on the southbound shoulder of the road approximately 15 kilometres north of the Fort Providence turn off.

The driver had returned with another truck and driver and they were attempting to switch the trailer to the other vehicle when the collision occurred. Satanski's truck was destroyed by the impact and became lodged under the trailer with him trapped inside.

The RCMP was the first to arrive on the scene followed by the Fort Providence Volunteer Fire Department and staff from the Fort Providence Health Centre.

Using hydraulic rescue tools, commonly known as the jaws of life, six firefighters, a nurse, the ambulance driver and the two RCMP officers freed Satanski after more than three hours.

Satanski was taken to the Fort Providence Health Centre and then medevaced to Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife. Despite the serious nature of the collision and being exposed to temperatures below -30 C for several hours Satanski was in stable condition and in the hospital for observation only as of Jan. 18.

Chief Joachim Bonnetrouge of the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation and his wife Nancy were able to speak to Satanski for a few minutes before he was medevaced at approximately 3 a.m.

He said Satanski was obviously in shock but tried to explain what happened. The priest had bruises on his forehead, wrists and arms but otherwise seemed uninjured, Bonnetrouge said.

"Thank God it wasn't a tragedy," he said. "It could have been fatal."

Before arriving at the health centre, Bonnetrouge went to the local airport thinking that Satanski had already been transported there.

He was in time to watch the medevac plane try to land.

Poor visibility created by open leads on the Mackenzie River and ice fog meant the plane had to make a few attempts before it landed, Bonnetrouge said.

"We prayed for the plane to land," he said.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

The RCMP G Division Traffic Services Collision analysts went to the scene on the highway and are conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision.

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