The daughter of a Canadian woman killed in a bus crash in the Dominican Republic says her family is still searching for answers three days after the incident that left another Canadian dead and 13 others injured.
Amanda Fullerton of Lockport, Man., said her mother, Colleen Fullerton, was killed in the Sunday evening crash and her father, John Fullerton, is in the hospital.
Fullerton said she hasn’t been able to get in contact with her father and is calling on Canadian consular officials to send a representative to the hospital where he is being treated, as the family has received no official word about his condition.
She said she first learned of the crash from her uncle, who had been travelling with her parents at the time and who was also hospitalized.
“He phoned and he was crying and he was talking really slow like he had got hit in the mouth,” Fullerton said in an interview Wednesday.
“He said all he knew was that my dad was covered in blood and my mom was unconscious and he kept going, ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’”
What followed was hours of trying to get in touch with Canadian consular officials and hospitals in the Dominican Republic — anyone who could possibly get information on her parents, Fullerton said.
The official notification of her mother’s death came from the RCMP on Monday afternoon, she said, but at that point the family had already seen her mother’s name published in Dominican media reports.
Now, Fullerton wants to know why it took Canadian officials so long to contact her, and why no one has given her official word about her father’s condition.
“Why wasn't I notified? I shouldn't have to learn from foreign media,” she said. “I've lost my mom and now I need to have eyes on my dad.”
Fullerton said her uncle has told her that her father is expected to undergo spinal surgery soon.
“All I know is that he wasn't stable for surgery because of swelling,” she said.
Fullerton said her parents were “happiest” when travelling, describing the pair as avid adventurers who regularly took two vacations a year.
Her parents had initially planned to travel to Cuba in February, but changed their destination last minute to the Dominican Republic, she said. Global Affairs Canada has warned Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel to Cuba, where a U.S. oil blockade has triggered a humanitarian crisis.
Fullerton said her mother was the “world’s best baker.”
“She baked us all this food (before the trip) … There's homemade cookies and I'm afraid to take them out because they're going to be the only ones we get,” she said through tears.
Her father works as a mechanic at his own garage, and Fullerton is concerned he won’t be able to work again if he undergoes spinal surgery.
Fullerton said the family has contacted a lawyer as they seek answers about the cause of the crash.
Sunwing said in a statement the bus that crashed was operated by one of its third-party providers transferring guests from Punta Cana International Airport to hotels via NexusTours.
Local authorities have said the bus slid across a road in the tourist area of La Romana, about an hour's drive west of the popular resort area of Punta Cana and east of the capital, Santo Domingo. They said the 13 injured were between the ages of 37 and 72.
The Dominican Republic has one of the world’s highest traffic fatality rates, according to the World Health Organization.
Fullerton said Sunwing has agreed to pay for costs associated with bringing her mother’s remains back to Canada, as well as the cost of her father’s medical treatment. The Canadian Press has reached out to Sunwing for confirmation.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Amanda Fullerton
