'It's just surreal': B.C. woman shares story of survival after vehicle hit by Hwy. 7 landslide
CTV
Chelsey Hughes is still processing what happened to her and eight other travellers on Highway 7 on Sunday.
Chelsey Hughes is still processing what happened to her and eight other travellers on Highway 7 on Sunday.
“I can’t believe that we walked away from that,” she said. "It’s just surreal. It doesn’t feel like something that has happened to me.”
The Surrey, B.C., resident said she was driving home from visiting a friend in the Okanagan that evening, and recalled her GPS re-routing her onto Highway 7 due to closures. Passing Hope, Hughes said there were no lights.
“It was just pitch black driving through the city,” she said. “The only light was coming from the cars that were driving through.”
Between Hope and Agassiz, the slide hit Hughes' vehicle. Just before the impact, Hughes noticed a tree falling up ahead of her on the mountain.
“I remember the sound of just being pushed through the earth,” she said. “We were right in between the highway and the Fraser River.”
Hughes said her car came to a stop in a swampy area. She heard the voices of others who had also been pushed off the road, and began searching for her phone.
