STOUGHTON - Receiving a phone call stating that your child has been airlifted to the hospital by STARS Air Ambulance because she has been in a tragic accident, is not a call any parent wants to receive.
Sandra LaRose’s daughter Kailynn Bursic-Panchuk worked at the Pharmasave in Weyburn. After work, she called her mom to tell her she was going to hang out with a friend, who LaRose later found out was housesitting on a farm east of Weyburn.
LaRose said she did not ask Kailynn where she was going, because she trusted her daughter.
It was Aug. 16, 2018, a hot and sunny day, when Kailynn’s vehicle collided with a train at the tracks near Weyburn.
LaRose also worked in Weyburn. She had just finished her shift at the co-op grocery store and had gone home. Her husband Aaron was out in the field, and LaRose got into the tractor and went to feed the sheep and goats.
When she got into the house, she realized the time and that she had not heard from Kailynn. She tried calling her to ask where she was.
“I had just put my phone down and almost immediately I heard my notification go off,” said LaRose. “I was expecting it to be Kailynn, but it was her friend Carman asking me to call this number.”
At first LaRose was not going to call, as the number was unfamiliar to her, but she did, and it was the Weyburn RCMP.
Kailynn had collided with a train and was airlifted by STARS to Regina General Hospital. By the time the family got there, Kailynn was already sedated and in a coma.
She was transferred to Saskatoon's pediatric intensive care unit. Despite the doctors doing all they could, Kailynn passed away on Aug. 22, 2018, one day after her 17th birthday.
“I remember saying that if I found out her phone had anything to do with her accident, I was not going to be quiet about it,” said LaRose.
According to the police report, the train crew saw her head lowered as she approached the tracks. She did not attempt to speed up nor slow down. She simply did not know they were there.
Kailynn drove a standard, so as she came off Highway 39 onto the approach, she was shifting gears, so she could not have been holding her phone, but it was laying on her passenger seat, which is why her head was lowered.
On top of this distraction, LaRose wondered why she did not hear the train’s whistles. Witnesses said that the train did blow its horns, but Kailynn never heard them.
Her windows were rolled down, as she did not have air conditioning, but her music was so loud, the train was not heard.
Today, LaRose travels to schools to speak to students about this tragedy.
She admits it is emotionally exhausting talking about Kailynn’s story, about her death, but the importance outweighs the exhaustion.
“I will never get Kailynn back, and I still live it every morning when I open my eyes,” said LaRose. “But I can do my best to make sure that every other mother and father opens their eyes in the morning knowing that their kids are still alive.”
Following Kailynn’s death, LaRose reached out then-SGI minister Joe Hargrave to open the conversation regarding the fines for distracted driving. They met in January 2019, and in May 2019 SGI launched its distracted driving campaign, for which LaRose did the voiceover.
LaRose is also part of Operation Lifesaver Canada and is the ambassador for Rail Safety, and the spokesperson for the Stop Track Tragedies campaign in Kamloops, B.C.
In January 2023, after only a little bit of thought, she decided to share Kailynn’s story, as she felt it was something she needed to do.
She has spoken to over 30,000 students and attended the Stoughton Central School on Feb. 10 to speak to the students there.
The response she receives is always respectful, attentive, and more times than not, tearful.
“I do not expect any other reaction or response from students, staff or community members,” she said. “I just want them to listen, learn and change their habits. It is actually pretty simple.”
“I always have students extend their condolences, and ask if they can give me a hug, which is the best,” said LaRose.
She always receives a big thank you for sharing Kailynn’s story with them.
In addition to Kailynn, LaRose and Aaron together have seven children, Michael, Ashley, Allyssa, Jamie, Amanda, Seth, and Jackson.
They never want to see another family have to deal with the tragedy that their family had to face on that dreadful day.
