CHESTERMERE — An elderly driver somehow lost control of his truck and smashed through the front window of a drugstore in Chestermere on Thursday, sending a woman and her young daughter to hospital with serious injuries.
The man — who looked frail and appeared to be in his 70s — was at the store with his elderly wife and granddaughter when he smashed through the front of the Shopper’s Drug Mart, said Cpl. Dave Friend.
EMS spokesman Adam Loria said a woman in her late 20s was taken to hospital by ambulance while her young daughter — believed to be about six years old — was flown by STARS Air Ambulance to Alberta Children’s Hospital.
Both were considered to be in serious life-threatening condition following the crash but police said later they are expected to survive.
The truck plowed through a flexible handicap sign and got held up on the frame of the store before smashing through the window.
A handicap parking pass could be seen hanging from the rear-view mirror when the truck was pulled from the store.
One witness said the rear tires continued spinning for “quite some time” after the truck hit the building, filling the air with smoke and a loud squealing sound.
A thick skid mark about two metres long was left on the sidewalk by the truck’s rear tires.