Three people, including a woman from Olds, were killed in a head-on crash on Highway 27 four kilometres east of Olds. Cpl. Shawn Morgan, a spokesman for the Olds RCMP, said emergency crews arrived at the scene of a crash during the evening of Jan. 6 between a white Acura SUV and a red Ford Freestar east of Highway 2A and west of Highway 2 near Rge. Rd. 12 just before 6 p.m. Donna Mills of Olds, who was driving the Acura, as well as the driver and one of five passengers in the Freestar, who were all men from Red Deer and its surrounding area, were pronounced dead at the scene, he said. Three other passengers in the Freestar were rushed to Calgary's Foothills Medical Centre with injuries described as "critical and potentially life-threatening," said Adam Loria, a public education officer with Alberta Emergency Medical Services. "Two of those were airlifted by STARS Air Ambulance and the remaining third was rushed by ground ambulance to Calgary," he added. Loria said the men's injuries were "traumatic" in nature. Another passenger in the Freestar was taken to the Olds Hospital and Care Centre and Loria described his condition as "serious but luckily stable and not life-threatening." Police said the ages of the men travelling in the Freestar ranged from 19 to 33. All of the surviving men from the Freestar were in stable condition and expected to make full recoveries, police said on Jan. 8. Police have verified that the six occupants of the Freestar involved in the crash were labourers who were carrying out work on the new Sunrise Encore retirement facility located at the intersection of 57 Avenue and Vista Drive in Olds. Morgan said weather conditions were "clear" at the time of the crash and police are not suspecting alcohol as a factor in the collision. "Surface conditions could have been a factor," he added. The "first initial impression" investigators had was the Freestar was eastbound on the highway and the Acura was westbound when the crash happened, Morgan said. Investigators said "early indications suggest the Freestar encroached into the westbound lane." The highway was closed in both directions for more than four hours and investigators, including a collision re-constructionist out of Red Deer, as well as a miniature, remote controlled helicopter, surveyed the scene. Powerful work lights illuminated the carnage at the scene and both vehicles were visibly twisted and heavily damaged. While the Acura was still in the roadway after the crash, the Freestar was off the south shoulder.
Cam Heke, a spokesman for STARS Air Ambulance, said it is ìunusualî for a STARS helicopter to transport two patients at once.
ìBut given the nature of the injuries the patients had sustained, a decision was made that they would fly both of them,î he said.
EMS had requested a second air ambulance from Edmonton, Heke added, but weather conditions at the time prevented that helicopter from taking off. Mills' son Mark posted the following message on his Facebook page the morning after the crash. "Twenty-nine years after bringing this fragile flesh of mine into the world, my mother passed on. She helped me through every change in life, and asked for little in return. Her unconditional love will resonate through the ages. For all that I am, thank you mom. For sending me love 29 yrs straight, thank you mom. For teaching me how to nurture a child, thank you mom. I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my mother you'll be..."
