After waking up to find a truck had crashed into their house, St. George's family feels lucky to be alive
CBC
It wasn't the brakes of the large transport truck stopping outside their home early Thursday morning in the middle of St. George's, N.L., that woke Darlene Hawkins and Emily St Jean-Hawkins.
When that truck slipped over the road, it still didn't wake them.
As the truck toppled to its side and smacked into the corner of their home, there was still not a stir.
But when their dog, Daisy — a tiny chihuahua-Yorkie mix — started barking, that's when the couple awoke from their deep sleep.
"The RCMP officer was banging on the door, and we sleep with our room door closed, and our dog was the one who woke us up with the banging," said St Jean-Hawkins. "She asked if we were all OK and I asked why. And she said, 'Well, an 18-wheeler hit your house.' And I said 'what?' And she said, 'There's an 18-wheeler attached to your house at the corner.'"
St Jean-Hawkins's first thought was for her mother, who was sleeping in the room closest to the road.
"I took off running to my mother … and she was OK, thank god."
Her mom was actually awake and headed to the bathroom when the truck hit. She didn't heard the impact either but did hear the wooden structure crack.
"Oh my god, there was an angel watching over everybody," St Jean-Hawkins said.
The St Jean-Hawkins family lives on Main Street in St. George's, a town on Newfoundland's southwest coast. Tractor-trailer traffic is normally minimal but the road was being used as a bypass while crews were doing culvert work on the Trans-Canada Highway. Conditions Wednesday night were icy as the mercury dropped from the warmer temperatures earlier in the day.
"It was pretty scary at the beginning of the ordeal," Emily said.
When the family knew everyone was safe, they invited the truck driver into their home to warm up with some hot coffee, as crews were called to lift the truck out.
"Now I'm 100 per cent relieved that we can laugh and joke and carry on," St Jean-Hawkins said.
This is not the first vehicle the house has seen up close, says St Jean-Hawkins.
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