Stuart Harvey says things haven't been easy since his wife's death
A husband is trying to cope with the loss of his wife of more than 50 years, after she was killed in a car accident on Newfoundland's west coast two months ago.
Stuart Harvey, from Lark Harbour, says he and his wife, Susan, were driving into Corner Brook for medical appointments when the collision happened.
"When you're semi-conscious still, you find yourself wondering, 'Where is she? Why isn't she there?' and maybe you reach out and you find you're in a hospital bed and you reach out and touch the table, and suddenly reality comes back," he said.
Harvey, who publishes the community newsletter Blow-Me-Downer, said they were in the eastern end of York Harbour headed down a hill, when they spotted two cars coming around the corner in the other lane.
"All of a sudden when he got to be about 200 feet from my car, the one at the front crossed over into my lane and started coming straight at me," said Harvey.
"I said to my wife, 'What the heck do you think he's doing?' but before she had a chance to answer, bang. That was it."
Remembers wife's final moments
Harvey said much of what happened after the crash is a bit of a blur, but he remembers his wife's final moments.
"When the cars came to rest all I could hear was pieces of metal or broken glass or whatever falling, and then it went completely quiet. I could hear my wife just making some little quiet sounds beside me, but when I tried to rouse her she didn't respond," he said.
"I think she must have died within about five minutes."
He said first responders started arriving to the scene, but guesses he lost consciousness after that because his next memory is being lifted into an ambulance.
"In the emergency room I asked what had happened to my wife. I had to ask a couple of times, nobody knew, but eventually somebody found out and they came and told me."
Still recovering
Harvey is still recovering at the Western Health Restorative Centre in Corner Brook. He's had two surgeries on his right leg, including having a steel rod put in, but says otherwise his injuries were minor.
It's the emotional ones that are taking time to heal.
"Sometimes I might be half asleep and I think she's saying something to me and I answer, and then I feel stupid because I realize nobody's there," said Harvey.
"But that's not happening quite so often now. I guess I'm getting more accustomed to the idea that I'm on my own, but it isn't easy."
Harvey just recently published his first Blow-Me-Downer since his wife died, but he said it wasn't quite the same without Susan proofreading on the couch next to him.
