BANGOR, Maine — Two sisters from Canada on a bus shopping trip to Bangor remained hospitalized Monday after being hit by a van driven by an 83-year-old Brewer man on Hogan Road on Sunday evening.
One of the women, who was listed in critical condition at Eastern Maine Medical Center, might have died at the scene if not for the actions of an off-duty registered nurse, police said in a news release.
Sandra Samuel, 62, of Lutes Mountain, New Brunswick, was in critical condition and her sister, Carole Day, 66, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was in fair condition at EMMC on Monday night.
Day and Samuel were crossing Hogan Road just south of the intersection of Hogan Road and Longview Drive — where The Olive Garden restaurant parking lot is situated — when they were struck about 6 p.m. Sunday by a 2003 GMC van driven by Willis Martin, 81, of Brewer.
Bonnie Martin, a cardiovascular nurse for Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems’ Center for Family Medicine in Bangor, and daughter Ashley Patterson, a radiographer at The Aroostook Medical Center in Presque Isle, were right behind Willis’ van at the traffic lights.
“The light was red, and we were waiting with traffic everywhere, and it was quite dark,” Martin recalled. “I noticed two females coming across from Olive Garden to the motel area. It caught my eye because I saw movement, but they were wearing dark clothes. As I watched them cross, the light turned green and traffic started forward.
“I said, ‘Oh, my gosh, he doesn’t see them, and they’re going to get hit.’ I saw one female victim off to the right, but never saw the other, so I knew there was trouble.”
Martin pulled her vehicle off to the right side onto the shoulder with its headlights shining toward the van and put her car’s flashers on.
“I was first on scene. It was horrific,” said Martin. “I saw the first female sitting upright and she was hysterical, so I moved over to the second woman and told my daughter to stay with the one who was moving.”
The registered nurse 16 years — 14 at EMMC and the last 18 months at Family Medicine — quickly went into professional mode despite the trauma she saw.
“I have assisted at other accident scenes before, but nothing at this level,” she said. “I’ve always said that ordinary people can do extraordinary things if they choose to get involved, so I immediately went into nurse mode and knelt beside her.”
Martin was afraid of what she would discover, as Samuel’s face was obscured by the hood on her jacket.
“I took a deep breath, removed the hood, and looked for breathing,” she said. “There was a lot of blood. She was obviously traumatized, but I saw her chest moving up and down, and there was a pulse.”
Martin said Samuel’s face was turned in the direction of the front tire of the van, about a “finger’s width” away from it. She said Samuel’s mouth was full of blood, and she also had an obviously severe arm injury.
“I told someone to move the vehicle so I could help her breathe,” Martin said. Her daughter jumped in the van and moved it backward a few feet, she said.
“I saw I needed to open her airway, so I removed her dentures and cleared her mouth out,” Martin added. “My daughter went and grabbed my first aid kit from my car, and I put on gloves, cleaned her mouth out with gauze and tried to keep her airway open until EMS arrived.”
Martin said time seemed to stand still as she tried to help Samuel and as her daughter, who is five months’ pregnant, assisted Samuel’s sister.
“It always seems like an eternity, but they were there within minutes from Station 5,” said the Arkansas native, who has been living in Maine for the last 22 years. “I can’t say enough about Bangor PD and Bangor Station 5, and how they responded.”
Martin, who is a Basic Life Support instructor and an American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support instructor, told EMS personnel what she’d done, and they took over.
Both injured women received further treatment at the scene from Bangor Fire Department personnel before being taken to EMMC.
“I just wanted to give her the opportunity to try to survive,” Martin said. “I really hope she pulls through. I truly believe she has at least another 24 hours she may not have had otherwise.”
Martin said she normally wouldn’t have been off, but was because of the Veterans Day holiday.
Officers from the Orono Police Department’s accident reconstruction team are assisting in the investigation. No charges are expected at this time.
Two other witnesses assisted Martin and Patterson after the accident, police said.
Not really surprised to read this. The mall area was overrun with Canadian shoppers this past weekend. People were everywhere and not always being careful of where they stepped out into traffic. I live here and I wouldn’t want to have to cross Hogan Road on foot! Hope these ladies recover quickly.
Agreed! I see these visiting shoppers, who stay at area motels, crossing the road, darting in front of traffic frequently!! There are no safe zones when crossing 4 lane traffic, and much of that traffic weaving between lanes and turning. I never understood how pedestrians could be so brazen, assuming every driver can see them and will be able to stop. None-the-less, I do hope they recover fully from their injuries. I doubt the age of the driver had as much to do with this accident as did the chaotic traffic flow that was never meant to accommodate pedestrians trying to get across the road!
If you have to cross the street, you have to cross the street. It’s pretty sad they don’t have any crosswalks there or on Stillwater. Take a look at Wilson St in Brewer. They have all kinds of crosswalks. Why can’t Bangor be more pedestrian friendly?
The overwhelming majority of mall shoppers travel in cars so there is not much need for such pedestrian friendly things such as sidewalks and crosswalks. The roads near the mall are already at near capacity so delaying all those cars waiting for the light to turn green for an additional minute every stop light cycle would back up traffic much worse than it already is and most of the the time there would be zero pedestrians waiting to cross. If there were enough pedestrians to warrant it, pedestrian bridges over Hogan and Stillwater would be a good option, but who should pay for them when very few locals would ever use them?
They might if they were there. If you make it accessible then there would be more pedestrians. There are all kinds of hotels around. I’m sure people would like to stroll around. I think there should be sidewalks on both sides of the road too. I know, I know…it all costs money. But if they put that stuff in when they were “planning” it wouldn’t have been that expensive. Maybe we’d all be a little lighter too.
I’m with Sally on this one. Encouraging commercial development out by the Mall as opposed to downtown creates a situation where people are encouraged to drive rather than walk. Not providing safe pedestrian corridors further exacerbates the situation. It is long past time that public policy tilted away from the automobile and toward mixed use, and as Sally says, most of us could stand to walk more. It isn’t necessary, or even viable in the long term, to encourage people to rush through their days in a car. An extra few minutes at stop lights isn’t much of a sacrifice toward the goals of enhanced safety, reduced obesity, and a more pedestrian-friendly community.
I don’t disagree that most of us could use a little more exercise, but it’s not the proper role of public policy to point us in that direction or any other direction. If you feel the need for more exercise, join a health club or just go for a long walk or choose the stairs at work, but don’t try to get big government try to force it on the rest of us.
Crosswalks by the mall would be little used most of the year, and all that time dedicated to nearly non-existent pedestrians crossing the road, cars would be sitting at the lights with their engines running, all of them getting exactly zero miles per gallon, polluting the air for no purpose whatsoever. Also, as I mentioned previously, the roads out there are very near their capacity so if anything is done to further impede the flow of traffic, there will be gridlock and cars backed up on the I-95 exit ramps.
But public policy pushes us into cars every day, and has for a long time. All I’m advocating for is a level playing field.
Obama’s bailout of General Motors, politically popular and possibly even necessary, continued this car-first bias. Steering some of that money into public transportation and pedestrian access is no more big government coercion than are mandated left-turn lanes and socialized parking.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed, but that isn’t the way most crosswalks are set up in Bangor. Most crosswalks that I have been at with a pedestrian control signal, the pedestrians have the WALK signal and the drivers have the GREEN light at the exact same time. This also seems very unsafe to me. I believe it would be much safer if the pedestrian control device changed to walk 5 seconds before the GREEN light, then you wouldn’t have drivers ignoring pedestrians waiting to cross. The pedestrians would already be in the crosswalk, so the drivers would have to wait until it was safe to go. I have had this happen several times at the corner of State and Broadway. Those lights change at the EXACT same time, so you have people wtih the GREEN trying to turn the corner when someone with the WALK signal is trying to cross the road at the same time. If you have multiple vehicles turn at that intersection when the pedestrian wants to cross, the pedestrian sometimes even has to wait until the WALK signal again. This is not good.
it doesn’t take people a minute to cross the road. If there is a crosswalk with no pedestrian control signal, motorists are REQUIRED by law to stop. I am from the area and it can be quite difficult to cross Hogan Rd. There needs to be a crosswalk in this area.
Hasn’t the city of Bangor heard of pedestrian cross light that you press a button when needed? They have them elsewhere.
I agree with you, Sally. With so many stores situated in a small geographical area, almost like a downtown, it is only right to provide safe crosswalks for those not too lazy to stroll from one store to another. But then, as Americans, that thought does not come naturally.
Every intersection is a crosswalk. Unfortunately, some people apparently can’t be bothered with using one, especially one with a traffic light.
Problem solved!!…… A HUGE SIGN erected, saying Canadians ! for.. Jesus, Mary and Josephs”s sake, watch where your going EH!!!!! .. Bonnie is a good and decent person and a great nurse!! THANKS to Bonnie and/ daughter and BFD/ EMS!
I see Canadians jay walking at that intersection every weekend. No surprise.
They could certainly use you in Arizona. Being able to identify someone’s nationality just by glancing at them is a sought after talent in the Sheriff’s department there.
I’m just saying, there aren’t many Local citizens with handfuls of shopping bags crossing at the Hogan Rd. Intersection at 9pm Saturday nights.
“Handful of shopping bags? 9pm Saturday night?” The writeup has no mention of shopping bags and the accident took place at 6 PM…
I’m referring to personal experience my friend.
I see many Canadians do stupid things, but I also see many people from Maine do the same exact thing.
how would you know they’re Canadians? Were they carrying a huge Canadian flag?
How would I know they weren’t? Like I said, I’m in Bangor at that intersection every Saturday night around the same time as I’m very ocd and routine oriented. How many Bangor Citizens around 9pm on a Saturday night with shopping bags cross that intersection?
Can you be just a little more sensitive to the story? How can you make such an assumption?
Nobody died….What’s the problem?
I was out that way an hour before this and people were dashing across streets with dark clothes on, not walking on sidewalks, jaywalking, all while carrying many many shopping bags… It was mayhem out near the mall this past weekend! People need to be careful when walking too and from hotels/ stores and their cars. Its not easy seeing them with all the headlites and craziness going on out there. This said, I pray the woman have a speedy and total recovery.
The fact that the Stillwater Avenue/Hogan Road area has become so congested over the past 10 years just goes to show how completely irresponsible the City Council and Transportation Department has been that there is no crosswalks on either of these busy areas. Bangor has never been friendly towards pedestrians as many BIG cities are and the fact that they continue to try and grow the city but not make allocations for that growth is extremely disappointing.
Not even BIG cities. Portland is much more pedestrian friendly than Bangor.
There is a reason why there are no crosswalks out there. It is NOT a pedestrian area! It isn’t like a downtown area with little shops. There is no way to safely walk around that area. It’s dark by 6pm and with the glare of headlights coming from every direction, this is no surprise. I hope others learn from these ladies’ mistake. Don’t die in the name of a bargain.
Those silly Canadians. Expecting busy American drivers to pay attention and yield to pedestrians.
Don’t they know that you are supposed to drive everywhere? Pedestrians are basically no account poor folk.
I’m sure these 60+ year old women just darted right out into traffic unexpectedly.
They’re deceptively fast.
You don’t think you’re capable of missing seeing someone dressed in dark clothing unexpectedly in the middle of the road outside a crosswalk?
It really doesn’t matter whether they’re poor folk or rich folk, if they’re in the middle of the road in dark clothing, they’re pretty hard to see.
Flashlights (many kinds available) are a good aid if your out in the dark (which in Maine can be anytime of the day when cloudy) whether crossing a street or walking on the side of a road or sidewalk. It is not always the fault of the pedestrian or driver which is why accidents are investigated. This accident is tragic to all involved and obviously could have been avoided but that is why they are called accidents and not on purposes. Everyone needs to slow down and not be in such a hurry whether driving or crossing a street because it only takes 1 second to change someones life forever. Let this be a lesson learned to avoid it happening to you or yours .Best wishes for all involved. A heartfelt thank you to those who risked their own safety in assisting at the scene and most likely saving a life or lives.
Used to be cars had the “right of way” and by gawd you wait for the light and/or use the crosswalk.
Now since the pandering feel good left has decided that pedestrians must have the “right of way”
there have been & will be more of these incidents. Every time I go to town there is always some
dirtbag testing one’s driving skills just because they can. NOT, saying that is the case with these old
ladies but it is bassakwards in my opinion. A pedestrian can stop a lot quicker than a 6000 pound
Chevy truck. And there are those that just step out assuming everything stops because of them.
Not good.
There is way too little information provided in the story for anyone to make that kind of determination.
Really? The story says he’s 83 and there have been multiple incidents in the paper lately of older folks raising cane on the roads.
So you’re going to place blame on this motorist for what other motorists his age have done?
How about some street lights??? It is pitch black on Hogan Road, add traffic and pedestrians its a recipe for disaster.
Good job Bonnie and Ashley….kudos to both you and your daughter for quick action and obvious life-saving interventions…..may both of these ladies recover from their injuries…..
Well no one else has said it, so kuddos to Bonnie! How lucky was this woman to have a trained professional there to assist and comfort her until she could be taken to the hospital. Glad to see it wasn’t more serious!
Sure was good to read about someone helping someone in need,,,but lets not forget the Police and Fire people out there everyday,24×7..
You are right but, the point of the story was that this nurse was off duty and saved this woman from passing away. We are very appreciative to the police and fire departments that risk their lives everyday to serve and protect.
Thank you so much to Bonnie martin and her daughter for their selfless acts. Because of them my mother is still alive. I hope anyone who made negative comments on here never have to endure anything as horrific as this. I will forever be grateful to these ladies and the other response personnel and hospital staff for saving my mom. RNinMaine…she is clinging to life, doesn’t get much more serious than that. Thanks to all those who offered their well wishes to these two fine ladies who are strangers to you.
Hoping your mother and aunt make full recovery both from the physical and mental aspects of this tragic accident. Many people see things happen and choose to continue on their path while others are doers and only hope someone would also help them if in need. May we all learn compassion from Bonnie and her daughter and may they to heal from the emotions that they too feel related to this accident. I learned from my mother her whole life about helping those in need and not for praise but for heartfelt compassion of our fellow man. This also includes not making negative comments to those inflicted with conflict and or physical needs for that does nothing but add more pain to an already life altering event. She is now gone from this Earth but I am sure everyone of her future generations of relatives will strive to live their life in such a caring attitude. The best lessons were never taught in school or church but at home where we learned if someone was hungry you feed them, if someone is cold you clothe them, when someone needs shelter you invite them into yours, when someone is desperate or lonely you show them caring compassion, when someone is down you never kicked them and when someone is hurt you help them and when you are in need someday someone will be their for you if you only let them. Seems like that is what may be missing in society today and if all felt that way you would never hear these negative comments. Bless you and your family.
Praying that your mother makes a speedy and full recovery after this accident. Thankfully, these two women were there to assist! All my best to you and your family and to the heroes that saved your mother!
These ladies are so loved by everyone that knows them. We are ever so furtunate to have had this off duty nurse on the scene… not sure which son this is but everyone is sending prayers for your Mom…. bring her home guys! Love to ALL!
Not sure which Son this is but all our thoughts and prayers are with your Mom and Aunt Carol… we love you ALL so much and certainly are very fortunate to have had these two wonderful angels in the right place at the right time to help….. Ignore all the negative things that have been posted, some people really just do not know any better!!! Bring them home guys!! (((HUGS)))
“The registered nurse 16 years — 14 at EMMC and the last 18 months at Family Medicine — quickly went into professional mode despite the trauma she saw.”
“The registered nurse 16 years”?
In most cases, copy editing is done BEFORE a story is published.
Oh, and 14 years plus 18 months doesn’t equal 16 years, either.
New math, BDN style.
Maybe you should apply to be their copy editor since you are so hung up on that and not the story at hand. I think that the grammar and sentence structure police should be addressing these issues directly to the editor and not within the comments section – it makes you look insensitive to the story…
It doesn’t say she worked 16 years, it says she was an RN 16 years.
Thank you to Bonnie Martin and her daughter for having the skills and courage to assist these two women. The women you helped are kind, loving and loved. This horrible accident has many communities praying for Carol and Sandra and their families. Many of you do not know these women, so I guess that is why you deem it okay to be insensitive and make assumptions on a board with no accountability for your words. As one of those “Canadians’ who travel to your state, to pour hard earned money into “your” economy, I’m saddened by the insensitive comments made on this board about two women who encountered tragedy on your streets.
Prayer for your friends and please know we are not all rude, insensitive people.
hope the family does not find some reason to sue
they won”t, because they are Canadians!!!!!! Prayers and kind thoughts ; while wishing for a complete recovery… God Bless
The Hogan Rd area produces profit for retailers and taxes for Bangor. Would a couple of pedestrian bridges and safe cross walks be too much of a burden?
Wow. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. Well written story and not enough can be said about everyone involved. This time of year is dangerous, everything is dark after 5:00 and you cannto see well until the snow starts piling up.
TO THE NURSES WHO STOPPED AND DID WHAT EVER THEY COULD TO SAVE THESE LADIES LIVES …YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!!
Bonnie and Ashley MAY I SAY YOU TWO ARE HERO’S, and if this had to happen what a better day than on veterans day.
GOD BLESS YOU and Thank you for your brave acts of Heroism.
This world needs more people like yourselves who selfishly give so others can have a secind chance.
I am very surprised from reading these comments that the first of some of these chose to talk about how difficult it is to cross and not mention your Brave acts.
I am a Stranger and Part time Resident of Bangor and I THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
It’s frightening. On a recent trip through Bangor, I travelled up Stillwater to the light by the Comfort Inn and DOC gas station. There were no fewer than 5 tour busses parked in the Country Inn (or whatever that one is near the new Kobe) and people were everywhere
The discussions generated by this story are amusing. The only thing that should be noted, is the fact that two women assisted the two victims, and it was an unfortunate accident. That’s it! The blamers are out in full force on this one, spewing their woulda shoulda coulda nonsense. It was an accident, the end. I hope these two ladies make a full recovery, and kudos to the women that helped them on the scene.
What luck to have a nurse be right there!!! Hopefully they both recover with no problems.
And people, please stop wearing dark clothes at night time if you’re going to be walking!! If I can’t see you, I can’t avoid you!
You take you life in your hands if you choose to walk in that area, there are no sidewalks to walk on, no crosswalks to cross the street. Why could they not construct a footbridge over the busy roads or tunnel to cross like they do in some other cities.
Wow. Good article. Thank God these wonderful women were there. Grateful to them for their training and courage, as well as that of the first responders. Hoping for a swift recovery.
Well I came here to share with you what my experience was the other night on Hogan Road when I heard the sound of Sandra being hit – I called 911 and alerted my brother, who is a trained Army Medic, who ran to the scene immediately to assist and who stayed there until the paramedics transported Sandra to the hospital. I wanted to share with you the fact that a ‘swarm of angels’ came to the scene to assist that night. In addition to Bonnie and her daughter and my brother, there was an EMT – a Doctor who helped Bonnie maintain an open airway and constantly checked for femoral and carotid pulses. When my brother returned from the scene, visibly shaken, and told us who else showed up at the scene – I was overwhelmed by the level of skill that was on their knees beside Sandy within minutes – a doctor, a nurse, an EMT and an Army Medic! On their days off now, they returned to what they were doing covered in Sandra’s blood.
Sadly though, even with the grateful thanks of Sandra’s daughter for saving her Mom, some of you have allowed this to turn into a disgusting and disgraceful diatribe and should be ashamed of yourselves. Wasn’t Stephen King once a pedestrian who got hit by a van? In the daytime? It happens and we really all should only be thankful, and hopeful, that God forbid we ever suffer some such accident, that the swarm of angels that came to Sandra’s aid the other day is there for us.
We are all, even the ignorant Canadian bashers, hoping for a speedy recovery of both of the women involved and owe our gratitude to the people in our community willing to help strangers.
Well said Mr King!! Sandra and Carol certainly were being looked after by the powers that be… what are the chances that so many skilled people were right there? These people were meant to be there and Sandra’s 3 sons, husband, grandchildren, Carols son, daughter and her grandchildren and all of their families and friends will always be grateful for each and everyone them. If only everyone is the World could be half as compassionate and selfless as they what a wonderful place it would be!
Well…it will be interesting to see how many more sarcastic and rude comments about canadians since this poor womans daughter posted something…So Sorry Sucosam for all the ingorant people here..they only represent a small number of folks who obviously have nothing better than come on here and be rude…Im glad your mom is still alive and will keep everyone in my thoughts
Didn’t read any of the comments due to seeing there were many unwarrented. Did want to say it was great to see how people stepped forward to assist in a very difficult situation. Did my heart good to read this article. There have to be some very unhappy people out there to see anything else. :(