Survivor of Yellowhead Hwy crash in stable condition

KAMLOOPS – A Williams Lake couple answered the phone June 9 to find out their 21-year-old son was involved in a traffic accident and transported from the scene to Vancouver General Hospital.

Bradly and Shelly Methot heard Brayden was sleeping in the backseat of his friend’s pickup truck when it collided with another vehicle after crossing the centre line on the Yellowhead Highway.

His three friends walked away with minor scratches and the occupant of the sehttp://infotel.ca/newsitem/name-of-deceased-in-fatal-car-crash-released/it10932cond vehicle – Timothy John Watson, 53 – was pronounced dead at the scene.

Brayden and his three other friends were on a return trip to Williams Lake after spending the previous evening at a motocross event in Kamloops.

Geoff Moore, a friend of the Methot family, says Brayden was “touch and go” for the first few days. He suffered several broken vertebrae in his neck.

It’s too early to tell if Brayden will become fully mobile again; he just woke up from a weeklong coma and is unable to speak.

“We don’t know what the outcome will be in the future. He may be able to walk, but right now he can’t do anything – he can’t even scratch his nose,” Moore said in a phone interview this morning.

Moore says the family has been in good spirits but since the accident have been living in two separate cities. He started a fundraising campaign to help pay for hotel costs and Brayden’s eventual rehabilitation.

Even though Moore is hoping to help financially – he says positive energy has also helped make a difference for the Methot family.

“Friends family members and strangers have reached out… of course the financial support is helpful but that energy has helped the entire family through this,” he said.

Brayden will remain at Vancouver General Hospital until his condition is stable enough for rehabilitation.

“He is a really tenacious superb athlete with a big heart – if anyone can pull through this, it’s that kind of character,” Moore said.

To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infotelnews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.