Saskatoon woman broke four bones after being hit by dog

A Saskatoon woman is facing a long recovery after being knocked to the ground by a dog at the Avalon off-leash park in February.

Kelly Donald waswalking with her husband and three dogs at the dog park when a stranger's dog ran right into her.

"It felt like a cannonball," Donald said."Something just slammed into my lower left leg. That was all I know. Next thing I know I was on the ground screaming."

Donald suffered a broken humerus bone in her upper arm, a broken wrist, and a broken knee and ankle. She needed surgery to repair her knee and ankle. She told CBC News she is off work for three to six months.

"I'm scared about the parks now, I really am. Who knew that would happen and this is going to take a while to heal. It's made me quite nervous about it, obviously," Donald said.

Donald said she isn't aware of any ongoing bone density issues. She thinks falling on the ice and packed snow contributed to the severity of her injuries.

Emergency response

In addition to her broken bones, Donald said she waited outside for an hour thatcold February day for emergency responders to take her away. The park's fence was locked and MD Ambulance had to wait for a supervisor to cut the lock.

Troy Davies with MD Ambulance said the emergency crewcouldn't drive the ambulance into the park because there was a risk the heavy vehicle would get stuck in the deepsnow.It had to wait for a mobile response unit, which is an all-terrain vehicle.

He noted, though, that he believes the crew made the right call to wait. The first responderscould have injured Donald further if they lost their footing.

"Anything can happen when you start carrying a patient across snow," Davies said.

He said emergency vehicles have difficulty getting topeople who need helpin parks, golf courses, or down at the riverbank. Each case is different, and requires different equipment, he said.

It also comes down to resources, he said.

"We'd like to see if we could have 10 more ambulances on the street and more mobile response units, but that's not going to happen," Davies said.

He said MD Ambulance is doing the best it can with the resources it has.

But Donald worries that next time it's called to the scene, the emergencymight be more time sensitive. She hopes the city will take steps to improve access to parks for ambulances.

However, she told CBC Newsshe is grateful to the first responders and medical team for all their work.