'I was thinking, 'this is it'': Whitehorse woman recalls harrowing highway crash
The details are a bit blurred now, but Megan Breen vividly remembers some of what happened as she drove to work on Friday evening. Mostly she remembers — and has nightmares about — the headlights coming at her.
"I actually thought I was going to die. I was thinking 'this is it,'" she recalled.
The Whitehorse woman is still shaken and in pain after being rear-ended on the Alaska Highway, and pushed into the path of a transport truck. She's not sure how she survived.
It happened near the Carcross cut-off, south of the city. Breen was waiting to turn left off the Alaska Highway.
"I was just listening to a song, turning left and something hit me so hard … I can't even describe how painful it felt," she recalled.
"I didn't even know what was going on. And I just kind of, like, shook to and tried to figure out what was going on, and just looked up and there's a semi coming right for me.
"I couldn't do anything except just hold on tight and hope that I didn't die."
'Some shield around me'
The truck hit the passenger side of Breen's vehicle. She remembers shattered glass flying at her, but doesn't remember any of it hitting her.
According to Yukon RCMP, alcohol was a factor in the accident — the driver who rear-ended Breen's vehicle had been drinking, though not enough to be charged with impaired driving. Police issued a 24-hour suspension, and also charged them for driving an unregistered vehicle.
Breen is facing many weeks of physiotherapy and recovery. She says her back, neck, and shoulder were injured and she's dealing with a lot of pain.
She's not sure how she'll manage if she can't work. Right now, she's holding down two jobs while also raising her kids. She says her doctors told her it might be two or three months before she can go back to work.
Friends have started an online fundraising campaign to help pay for therapy.
"I have bills, I have three kids, I can't not work. It's going to be tough," Breen said.
Still, she knows it could have been much worse.
"I was just so scared. I was so grateful that I didn't die."
