Alfred Pratt, 17, is sitting up and answering questions. One day he only spoke in Japanese as a joke, a language he picked up in his childhood overseas.
“The kid is so friggin’ tough,” Daniel Pratt, one of his uncles, said in an interview. “If you know the kid, you can’t even be surprised.”
On July 20, Alfred was one of four people in an SUV that crashed on Highway 1 near Piapot, in southwest Saskatchewan. He is the only one who came out of it alive, and has since been surrounded by his father, sister and uncles who have barely left his side.
The crash killed his mother, Carol, 49, and both of his grandparents — Judy, 72, and Jim, 75, all from Estevan, Sask.
The family had just spent a week together in Calgary and were driving home to Estevan. Alfred had a brain bleed, and his road ahead to recovery is long, but he’s improving a little more each day, his uncles say.
“In the last two years he’s grown so significantly and he’s been into protein, nutrition, mental focus and then hitting the gym. And so he’s getting big, he’s getting muscular, big, strong kid,” Daniel said.
“He’s obviously able to withstand something horrible and come out of it.”
RCMP said the family’s SUV collided with a semi that was parked on the side of the highway, according to a news release. The three other family members were pronounced dead at the scene. Alfred was taken to Regina General Hospital with serious injuries.
The semi’s driver and passenger were not hurt. Police continue to investigate with the help of a collision reconstructionist.
Last week, Saskatchewan RCMP pleaded with drivers to focus more on safety amid a dramatic spike in highway fatalities. Between June 1 and July 22, RCMP responded to 23 fatal collisions, some of which involved multiple fatalities, for a total of 27 deaths.
Sask. RCMP raise alarm about skyrocketing highway fatality numbers
His mother Carol Pratt was the oldest of the Pratt siblings. She was a teacher who taught her way around the world, from Ireland to Thailand to Brazil to Abu Dhabi, where she became a vice-principal. Daniel said that since the crash, messages have arrived from people they’ve never met.
“We were remembering how literally every time Alfred walks into the room, Carol hugs and she wraps her arms around him, she plays with his hair. She calls him Fifi,” Daniel said.
Alfred’s grandparents Judy and Jim were married for 54 years. Judy helped a seniors’ home in Estevan get back on its feet.
“The things that they did to completely change that place from something that was falling apart to now the premiere senior living home in Estevan with a long waiting list,” Daniel said.
Jeff Pratt, Alfred’s other uncle, said that Jim was the protector of the family.
He said Jim spent nearly three decades at Investors Group, coached his boys in hockey, and greeted everyone the same way: “Not bad yourself.”
“We lost three,” Jeff said. “But all three would have given every inch of whatever they could for that boy. And I believe they did. And I believe that’s why he’s here with us right now.”
Both brothers want the people who kept Alfred alive to be recognized: the Maple Creek RCMP officers first on the scene, the paramedics, the nurses in Regina caring for him around the clock, and the man who towed the family’s vehicle and treated it with care.
“You hear about angels,” Daniel said. “I think that’s who these are. They didn’t just save him. They saved our family.”
For now, they’re holding on to what they have left, waiting by the bed, thinking to themselves, what would Jim have said?
The answer they get: “Step up,” Daniel said, “You’ve got grandkids. You’ve got all these people. You’ve got to step up.”
“Tomorrow’s not guaranteed,” he said. “If this can bring one family closer together; create more love amongst families and friends out there, Jim and Judy and Carol would be smiling down about that.”
