Murrayville residents Steve Nyberg and Becky Swan were heading out early Saturday morning, May 16, for a long weekend camping trip with some friends when they discovered the victim of a hit-and-run on Fraser Hwy.
“We turn right on Fraser Highway, and it’s about 4:35 [a.m.],” Nyberg recalled.
“And we saw, just a little bit east of 232nd, we’re like, what is that on the road?.”
At first glance, it looked like a garbage bag, because there was clothes and debris on the road.
“It was like somebody just dumped a bag of garbage. And then when we went beside it, we were like, holy s___, that’s a body.”
They pulled over and hit their four-way flashers
“My wife is OFA 3 [WorkSafeBC Occupational First Aid (OFA) Advanced], and so she immediately went over to do a wellness check. And I called emergency services.”
The person lying on the road, a woman, was not responsive.
“[My wife] rolls her over, and is trying to talk to her, checking her vitals. And then next thing I know, she’s doing chest compressions. I’m on the phone with emergency services, and telling them what’s going on. And they’re like, is she doing chest compressions properly? I said, I don’t know, but if she’s doing it, she’s doing it right. She’s had training.”
While Swan performed chest compressions, a frustrated Nyberg was trying to control traffic.
“So I’m standing in the lane, trying to slow cars down, and they’re just whipping past us, like not slowing down at all.”
Even though the car that hit the victim had left considerable debris on the road. “There was plastic pieces that were spread over probably ten meters.”
“I’m on the phone with emergency services, I’m standing on the inside lane. Cars come, and I’m waving my arm to slow down, and some of them did, but some people just went right through, like doing 50, 60K. Like right through the debris. Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.”
One driver stopped and blocked the lane for them.
“He pulled a [U-turn] and then turned around to face what was going on. He stayed in his car just with his four-ways on, blocking the lane, so that we didn’t get smoked.”
Swan kept working on the victim until police, fire and ambulance arrived.
“The first responders were fantastic. They got there in five minutes. Really good response time. I was really impressed.”
Paramedics could not revive the pedestrian, who was declared dead at the scene.
One first responder told Nyberg and Swan they would be eligible for victims counselling.
“We didn’t know what we needed, so we headed out for our weekend,” Nyberg said.
“No cell service, so we didn’t get any calls or any social media or anything like that. It was pretty crazy, but our weekend away, it was a good distraction. My buddy’s kids, they live in the moment and kept us going. But coming back to reality [driving home], I could really feel the weight of it starting to set in.”
Nyberg posted about their experience on social media, saying he hoped the victim “held on long enough to know that two people cared enough to try and keep them in this world.”
”I guarantee you’ll never be forgotten by my wife and I for as long as we live, as we process what happened and deal with this trauma.”
RCMP are looking for the driver responsible, who fled the scene. Anyone who was in the area at the time and witnessed the collision is asked to contact Langley RCMP at 604‑532‑3200 and quote file number 2026‑14967.
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