Kelvin Elsner on Melville Street in Saskatoon on April 25, 2023. (Libby Giesbrecht/650 CKOM)

By Libby Giesbrecht, CKOM News Staff

‘At least I lived:’ Warman man survives major wreck with just scrapes

Apr 26, 2023 | 9:44 AM

Even though Kelvin Elsner sees wrecked cars every day, the 26-year-old never pictured himself among the wreckage.

But after a crash that could have been written into a Final Destination movie plot, he said he’s still processing the fact he was able to walk away virtually unscathed.

Elsner, who works at a collision centre in Saskatoon, was driving into the city from his home in Warman on Sunday to meet some friends for lunch when he spotted a trailer quickly crossing the southbound highway lanes.

“Next thing I knew, it was there; it was happening,” he said.

Elsner said he didn’t have a chance to miss the trailer, so he braced for impact and tried to turn into the ditch. Days later, he’s still processing the crash that every bystander and first responder at the scene said should have left him dead.

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He said he remembers sitting in his car after colliding with the trailer.

“I knew that the car was messed up,” he said, “I could see that there was nothing beside me anymore.”

The trailer sliced off the left side of Elsner’s Nissan Cube when it hit him.

Elsner said he had unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of his car when a woman named Wendy Fyrk rushed over to help him. She told him she’d witnessed the crash and sat him down on the side of the road until emergency crews arrived.

Elsner said he remembers insisting on getting his phone from his car so he could call someone to let them know what had happened.

“Nobody is really sure how it is that I got so lucky to just step out of the car and be OK,” Elsner said.

Chief Russ Austin with Warman Fire Rescue said the crash happened when a triple-axle car-hauling trailer with no load detached from a truck heading northbound at the railway overpass near Warman.

Austin confirmed the trailer crossed the median and hit a southbound vehicle on the driver’s side.

The fire chief said the call about the incident originally came in from a bystander about a vehicle crashing into a street light. First responders only found out about the full extent of the crash when they arrived at the scene.

“When we came across it, it didn’t look like it was going to be a very promising scene for survivability for the driver,” Austin said.

(Wendy Fyrk/Facebook)

Even though the entire driver’s side of Elsner’s vehicle was torn off by the trailer, he suffered only minor injuries, consisting of scrapes on a wrist and a shin. Austin chalked it up to driving a modern vehicle with lots of airbags – Elsner’s car was a 2011 Nissan Cube – and getting hit at just the right angle and speed.

Austin called Elsner lucky to walk away.

“It’s one of those calls that you almost never see,” Austin said.

In his 30-year career, the chief said he’s only seen similar situations — where a trailer has become untethered from a truck — a handful of times.

Elsner said he’s sore but also grateful.

“It’s crazy to think how close to something a lot worse I was,” he shared.

The situation is still sinking in for him — he said he woke up Tuesday morning expecting to see his car in the driveway.

“I never saw it coming. I never expected anything like that,” he said.

He said he’s now dealing with SGI and has spoken to the RCMP, who said tickets would be issued to the driver who was hauling the trailer.

“It sucks that I had to live through it, but at least I lived through it,” Elsner said.

Trailer safety

Austin said SGI has rules for towing trailers.

According to its website, SGI recommends using a qualified hitch installer recommending the best hitch for a trailer and having an expert complete the installation.

If a hitch is used to tow a trailer weighing more than 3,000 pounds, it must be attached to the frame of the towing vehicle. A truck bed liner cannot be installed between the hitch and the towing vehicle.

SGI spokesperson Tyler McMurchy said safety chains are also important to use, as they function as a backup in case of a hitch failure.

Austin recommended drivers ensure they have the right size of hitch and emergency chains attached to the vehicle, and said the chains should be secured with a locking mechanism to ensure they don’t come off.