Edmonton teen recovering after being hit by a bus in Peru
It was the trip of a lifetime.
Samantha Sech, 19, had been exploring South America for over a year, her first big trip after graduating from high school.
Her older sister, 26-year old Alice Sech even flew out to meet her.
Together the sisters were exploring Lima, Peru.
At at about 2 p.m. on June 8, they were standing at a street corner chatting, waiting to cross.
When the signal came, they began walking, just as a bus attempted a quick turn between pedestrians.
"I'm looking at her, and she's looking at me, and all of a sudden I just see her face change," said Samantha. "And she has a face of panic and she starts pulling me back. And I briefly get a second to look to my side and I see that there is a big bus."
But Alice was too late. The bus hit Samantha, knocking her over, with the wheel on her resting on her leg.
"That was the scariest moment of my life — the most heartbreaking moment of my life," Alice said. "Seeing my sister in such pain, and seeing how severe her injuries were."
Samantha said at first she didn't feel any pain, only shock, while hearing her sister screaming so that the bus driver doesn't continue over her other leg.
Alice says the full weight of the bus was on her sisters leg for at least 20 seconds.
When the bus driver finally moved, Samantha began to scream.
"He got off of my leg after sometime. And that's when the shock wore off, and I experienced the most agony of my life."
Samantha spent a week in the hospital in Lima, where she learned her travel insurance had expired.
Friends and family at home in Edmonton pooled their credit cards to help pay for the air ambulance to get Samantha home.
While they waited, the people of Peru rallied around the sisters, Alice said.
"People reached out to us," she said. "They found my Facebook, or they would come to the hospital personally to offer us food, clothing, or a shoulder to cry on, prayers, even a place to shower, or sleep."
Since returning home, Samantha has spent the last month and a half at the Grey Nuns Hospital, enduring 10 surgeries to save the crushed leg.
"Now there is a possibility that I might walk on this leg," said Samantha. "Where before, there was a period when I genuinely believed that it would have to be amputated."
Samantha says despite the accident she will return to Peru.
She credits her trip for motivating her to be resilient on her new journey.
"Through my travels, I realized so many things that I wanted to do, and so many things that I'm grateful for, and so many places where I want to take my life. And it all included being on my feet, so I'm just so happy that now that's a possibility."
The family has set up a Go Fund me to help pay for the costs of Samantha's recovery.
