Mom, son in coma after crash

We have more information tonight on the horrific crash that sent a Dunnville mother and her teenage son to hospital with critical injuries Wednesday night.

Neighbours have identified the critically injured van driver as 37-year old Patricia Bartels and her 15-year old son Ben who was sitting in the front passenger seat. Both are in a medically induced coma tonight at Hamilton General Hospital with life threatening head injuries.

Four other children were in the van including two-year old Bella who had serious injuries to her face.

The crash happened yesterday afternoon at Caistorville Road and Silver Street in West Lincoln. Police say the Bartels van turned into the path of eastbound pickup. Both vehicles ended up in Joe Kozlar’s ditch. The van was overturned. The younger children were injured and crying.

Joe Kozlar tried to help the victims: “It’s a shock when you see those kids on the ground crying. And we took another kid, another kid, and after the son. And still, the mother in. We’ve never seen anything like that before. We were sitting here — me any my wife — BANG! Oh, for come on. We’re lucky we have a tree.”

The family was just going for a routine drive to Walmart in Stoney Creek when the crash that now has two family members fighting for their lives happened.