Story closest to my heart

By Kyle Benning [Contributor]

It was a warm September evening when we got the call.

Two Chevrolet Corvettes were racing down 72nd Ave heading Eastbound before they turned right on 128 Street. The yellow Corvette, which was ahead of the black one, weaved quickly through cars on 128 Street. When the black Corvette turned right, the driver was going at such a high speed, he hit a car in the passing lane and swung his wheel back.

He swung back so far that he drove his car over the sidewalk and headed straight for the bus bench.

There were several people waiting for the bus, but only one was sitting on the bench.

Pritam Singh Benning was an 83-year-old South Asian man who always put his family’s needs ahead of his own.
After he started a family and cared for five children, Benning moved his entire family to England to give his children a better opportunity.

Benning had two more children in England and lived in London’s East end, along with many Asian and African immigrants.

With nine of them in a small house, Benning moved once again, to Canada with his wife and four of his children.

Benning had enjoyed a simple life while in Canada. At the age of 83, it was hard to meet someone as independent as him. He went to the temple on a daily basis, tended to his garden and enjoyed the company of his family.

But it was the mistake of a young Indo-Canadian male that resulted in the end of him. The same mistake that many young Indo-Canadians make.

The front bumper of the black Corvette went through the bench and didn’t stop until the car hit a lamppost, shattering both of Benning’s tibias and fibulas. The first night in the hospital was the worst. He has lost a lot of blood and his face was very pale. Doctors could not confirm if he was going to make it through the night.

But my grandfather is a fighter, and made it through the first 24 hours.

Unfortunately, the blood began to clot, and the doctors were concerned about bacteria spreading through his body.
The safest option was to amputate. So on the third day, Benning was taken to the operating room to get both of his legs cut off below the knee.

The operation took a lot out of him, and the doctors were not sure if they cleared the infection out of Benning’s system; they didn’t.

Benning had to go into another operation because the bacterium was not cleared in one of his legs.The fifth day was set for the second operation. Doctors had to amputate his left leg above his knee.

But he was recovering very slowly after the second operation and was sent back to the Intensive Care Unit.

My family discussed the situation.  We all knew that my grandfather was an independent soul, and if he was to continue living, he wouldn’t enjoy life to the same degree as he once did.
He was not one who wanted to be a burden on the family also keeping in mind he wasn’t recovering very much.

His children decided to pull the plug so that Benning wouldn’t hate his life.

The driver of the black Corvette was taken into custody and had his licence suspended for seven months.

He was released from custody on a promise to appear in court.

According to the media, the pre-trial was set for February 10, but there was a mistake in the paperwork. A mistake that no one will take responsibility for.

So now it has been seven months and the man who decided to race and ended up hitting my grandfather is back on the road, and he hasn’t even had his pre-trial yet.