MINDEMOYA – Town of Gore Bay Councillor Ken Blodgett is fortunate to be alive after being involved in a horrific head-on vehicle collision this past Christmas Eve.
“The accident took place at 5 pm near Gravenhurst, while the turkey was coming out of the oven at my son’s house on Christmas Eve (December 24th),” Mr. Blodgett told the Recorder. “I was about 10 minutes away from my son’s house when the accident took place.”
After being transferred to a hospital in the area, he had spent time in the Mindemoya hospital recovering until being transferred again (yesterday) to a rehabilitation facility.
“I was crushed into the front of the vehicle,” Mr. Blodgett told the Recorder. He suffered many severe injuries, with 10 broken ribs on one side, two broken ribs on the other side, a broke sternum, and broken collar bone—along with bruised lungs and numerous other cuts. He also has a huge bruise from his knee to his shoulder.
Mr. Blodgett, who was driving a Ford Edge SUV when the accident occurred, told the Recorder, “here is something that is also of interest. The other vehicle involved in the accident was a Tesla,” he said. “So here I was crushed into the steering wheel and I could hear people talking outside (the vehicle), including the tow truck driver telling those people around that they can’t touch the car. With vehicles like a Tesla they have to get in touch with a call centre to have a signal sent via satellite to have the car turned off, because at that point, even with the accident, the vehicle was still producing high voltage. When I found that out, it was pretty scary. No one could help me until after the Tesla involved in the accident was actually turned off. I wonder how many people who own this type of vehicle know this could happen.”
“I think the guy who was driving the Tesla was okay, but I don’t know for sure,” said Mr. Blodgett of the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident.
He told the Recorder, “I’m going to be moved into a rehabilitation centre in Sudbury, for four to six weeks Thursday (yesterday).”
Mr. Blodgett said he will continue his duties as a town councillor once he heals from his injuries. He quipped, “I’ve lived nine lives and I will live long enough to see the (Toronto) Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup.”
