Young woman clinging to life after crash with suspected drunk driver

CTV Vancouver: Alcohol suspected in crash A young woman is clinging to life after a head-on crash in Abbotsford, and police suspect the other driver was drunk behind the wheel.

Jocelyn Visser spent Sunday morning skydiving with her family for her dad's 50th birthday.

But the most dangerous part of the vivacious 21-year-old's day turned out to be driving home from her shift at the Whatcom Road Save-On-Foods in Abbotsford.

That's where she was hit by a driver police believe was drunk. The 53-year-old man's grey Dodge pickup truck failed to turn with Old Yale Road, crossed the centre line, and slammed into Visser's red Neon head-on.

"Why Jocelyn?" asked friend and co-worker Casey Burke. "That could have been anyone at the store. I saw her yesterday, she was smiling, and now she's in a hospital bed and I started crying."

Visser was trapped inside the car for at least half an hour as firefighters tried to pull her out.

"I think it's a miracle she survived that crash," said Marc Domke, who lives nearby and rushed down to do what he could to help. "My heart goes out to her."

Another neighbour named Craig said he heard the collision at about 11:20 p.m. near the intersection of Old Yale Road and St. Moritz Way.

"We heard a horrendous crash, that was the first thing, and then dead silence. And that wasn't good," he said.

Visser was airlifted to hospital with broken legs and severe head trauma. Police said her injuries are life-threatening. Her parents were at her side Monday, family members told CTV News.

The 53-year-old suspected drunk driver's truck flipped over. An empty mickey could been seen at the side of the road.

That driver was also taken to hospital. He is expected to survive.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving's Bob Rorison said drunk driving has gone down since tougher laws were introduced by the provincial government, but he's worried  people are getting complacent.

"There’s ads on TV, there’s ads on radio. We have billboard ads [saying] don’t drink and drive, but people aren’t paying attention because they are comfortable with the fact they most likely won’t get stopped," he said.

Visser's coworker said she loves children and has a special bond with her niece. She works at a day care during the day and at Save-On-Foods at night.

The tight-knit store's employees are praying for her and a manager visited her family in the hospital Monday.

"She's a personality. She was so excited about skydiving – it was so cool, you could see the curve of the earth," said Burke.

Burke said she still can't believe Visser was hurt, and she's shocked it could be a drunk driver who was responsible.

"I hope you get everything you deserve because Jocelyn did not deserve that," Burke said.