A Parksville man is in serious but stable condition with multiple broken bones following a two-vehicle collision on Highway 4 west of Cathedral Grove on Saturday, March 16. A six-month-old puppy that was in the same car fled the scene, prompting a weekend search of the woods across the highway from the Cameron River, about 10 kilometres east of Port Alberni.
Dale Fietz, 73, was returning to Parksville after visiting a friend in Port Alberni when a vehicle veered into his lane and hit him head on, said Fietz’s daughter Sara. “He slowed down because he saw a car coming straight at him. He pulled into the pullout” and the oncoming car hit him in the front end.
Fietz suffered a shattered pelvis, hip, knee and hand, broken fingers on his other hand, several broken ribs and a concussion. “His ribs were in his lungs,” Sara Fietz said. “He’s in pretty bad shape right now.” He has already had his first surgery she said, on his knee.
The family’s puppy, an Australian blue heeler named Mini, was in the back seat of the car and jumped out when paramedics pulled Dale from the wreckage. Sara said she does not know if Mini is injured.
Port Alberni RCMP Const. Richard Johns confirmed a car crossed the centre line and struck another vehicle head on, “both going at considerable speed.” The cars were in an 80-kmh zone. Both drivers were taken by separate ambulances to hospitals out of town, he said. Johns did not immediately have information on the condition of the second driver or whether charges would be laid in the incident.
Traffic was halted in both directions for about an hour as first responders assisted the victims; traffic was moving in a single lane alternating pattern by 4:40 p.m.
News that a dog fled the scene following the crash quickly spread on social media and volunteers headed to the area to try and catch the pup. Sara Fietz posted later that Mini was the dog who was missing. Sara and her mother were in Toronto when the collision happened, and flew home early the next morning. After visiting with Dale in Victoria they travelled to Cathedral Grove to try and rescue Mini.
She was spotted Sunday night on a logging road in the area and the Fietzes can hear her in the bush. “We set up her crate last night and some blankets…we can see she was in her crate last night,” Sara said. They have set up a scent trail for her to follow and as of Monday morning were asking members of the public to stay away from the area to give Mini a chance to follow the trail.
Sara thanked the many people who searched for Mini over the weekend and helped them pinpoint a location. She singled out Brittany MacNeil “who’s been amazing,” and who also lost a set of keys in the bush while searching for Mini.