A head-on highway crash involving an R.V. and an SUV near Creston on Monday night claimed the lives of a B.C. man and a young girl from Fort Macleod, and left the girl's father severely injured.
Marty and Janine Vanee, of Fort Macleod, and their three children were on their way to Marty's brother's wedding in Chilliwack when the crash occurred.
The Vanee family was travelling in a motorhome on the night of August 12 when, according to RCMP, an oncoming eastbound Saturn SUV crossed the centre line along Highway 3 and collided with the westbound R.V. at a location approximately two kilometres west of Creston. The impact of the crash sent the R.V. off the highway, where it flipped, landed on its roof and caught fire.
The Vanee's four-year-old daughter Emmy, who had been sleeping at the time, died in the crash. The driver of the SUV, a 26-year-old B.C. man, was also killed.
Martina Van Hierden, a family friend, was on her way to the wedding when she learned of the fatal crash. "At 11:30 we got the call from the hospital, the dad, and we didn't have reception. We went on the hill and then we got the reception and then Janine, the daughter-in-law, said that her husband was injured and the two boys were fine and the little girl is gone."
According to Van Hierden, Marty Vanee suffered a broken foot, hip, nose and several ribs in the crash and his heart and liver were bruised.
"He's still in the hospital," Van Hierden told CTV Lethbridge on Wednesday. "He had surgery last night and he has a severely damaged foot and that could affect (him for life). The doctor says he will cope with that for the rest of his life."
RCMP believe the driver of the SUV was returning from the Shambhala Music Festival and investigators have not ruled out the possibility that he was impaired.
A GoFundMe campaign to support the Vanees with their expenses has raised more than $26,000 in its first 24 hours, surpassing the original target of $20,000. To support the cause visit 'Marty and Janine Vanee'.
With files from CTV's Tyler Barrow
