Man suffers ‘life-altering’ injuries trying to assist drivers involved in 9-vehicle collision in Uxbridge, police say

A Durham Regional Police officer's logo emblem is shown in Bowmanville, Ont. on Tuesday Feb. 28, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives

A 20-year-old man suffered ‘life-altering’ injuries after trying to help drivers involved in a nine-vehicle collision in Uxbridge on Tuesday morning, police say.

Durham Regional Police say they were called to Regional Road 1, south of Fowlers Road, at around 10:45 a.m. for a multi-vehicle crash.

Officers say the blowing snow caused white-out conditions for the multiple vehicles driving southbound on Regional Road 1. The driver of a Kia sedan slowed due to the lack of visibility, police said, and was rear-ended by another vehicle.

“Unable to see the stopped vehicles, this caused a chain reaction of crashes,” police said in a release issued Wednesday.

A 20-year-old got out of his vehicle in an attempt to help the others involved. Police said a pick-up truck struck the man, pinning him into a snowbank.

Uxbridge Fire, York and Durham paramedics attended the scene to help the man, who had to be extracted from the snowbank and wreckage.

ORNGE Air Ambulance then airlifted him to a Toronto-area trauma centre, where he remains with serious, life-altering injuries.

Police say many of the other involved drivers were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries, and have since been released.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Collision Investigation Unit at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5262 or Crime Stoppers anonymously.