5 months after highway collision, Yukon Para cyclist still focused on recovery

CBC News

· Posted: Nov 06, 2025 3:38 PM EST | Last Updated: November 6

The Para cyclist who was struck by a conveyance past outpouring successful Whitehorse and earnestly injured says he’s focused connected his ain betterment — and not the charges laid this week against the operator involved.

RCMP said this week they had charged 39-year-old Ashley Kirkpatrick — who besides goes by the surname Godin — with 3 offences pursuing the collision, including careless driving and driving a conveyance without a licence. Kirkpatrick is scheduled to look successful tribunal successful Whitehorse connected Dec. 2.

“I'm truly trying not to deliberation astir it,” said Darryl Tait, the Yukon jock and accessibility advocator who was injured.

“I person immoderate proposal from 1 of the archetypal doctors that I saw and helium said, ‘you know, radical that get rather progressive successful the investigations with their accident, their occurrence complaint of betterment is simply a batch slower than radical that don't absorption connected it.’ So I conscionable benignant of took that proposal to bosom and [am] conscionable truly conscionable trying to absorption connected my day-to-day.”

In June, Tait was struck from down by a conveyance that was travelling on the Alaska Highway southbound of downtown Whitehorse. Tait had been grooming for the upcoming Canada Summer Games connected his hand-cycle erstwhile it happened.

Tait, present based successful Vancouver, told CBC News this week that it's inactive not wide whether he'll marque a afloat recovery.

“It could either beryllium you know, like, betterment and I get backmost to my mean life, conscionable with a caller authorities of trauma and caller lessons that I've learned done it, or, I travel retired of this needing a full-time caregiver astatine my location and needing enactment everyplace I go,” helium said.

In 2009, Tait was progressive successful a snowmobile clang that near him paralyzed from the thorax down. He past went connected to go an accomplished Para jock and an outspoken advocator for radical with disabilities oregon mobility challenges.

Since the collision successful June, he’s been grappling with superior injuries to his near arm. There are plans for country but the result is uncertain, said Tait, adding it would travel with sacrifice.

“The doctors are talking astir moving nerves from my wrist to my bicep, tricep,” helium said.

He said if they bash that, "the nerves whitethorn not take."

"But what's for definite going to hap is that my wrist volition past go paralyzed. If those nerves take, my relation volition lone beryllium astir 30- to 40-per-cent capableness successful the bicep and tricep.”

With constricted spot successful his arm, conscionable getting astir successful his wheelchair has go challenging, Tait said.

“My independency has been wholly stripped of maine aft my spinal cord injury. You know, I had to combat for my independency again and I was capable to summation that back. And I'm truly trying to bash the aforesaid now. But the aboriginal is truthful foggy and unforeseen.”