Manitoban thankful for being found after early morning crash in October

Colton Letkeman lays in a hospital bed with his dad next to him following a significant crash on Oct. 27, 2024. (Colton Letkeman)

A Manitoba man still can't believe he was found after being in an early morning crash on a rural Manitoba road at the end of October that left him with significant injuries to both legs.

Colton Letkeman had been serving as the designated driver for his friends during a night out in the city. After dropping them off, he jumped on Highway 236 to make the trip to his home just north of Balmoral.

He said he wasn't too far from home when suddenly, a 10-point antler deer came out of nowhere right in front of him.

His reflexes kicked in at the last second, and he swerved, trying to miss it. Unfortunately, the back end of his truck still hit the deer, which caused his vehicle to be thrown off the road and into a tree.

The impact caused Letkeman to hit his head on the steering wheel, knocking him unconscious. When he came to, he wasn't sure where he was.

"I see nothing but pitch black and fire. I'm kind of thinking I'm somewhere else. But thankfully, that wasn't the case," said Letkeman.

After gathering his bearings, all Letkeman was focused on was getting out of the truck.

He said he slammed his body against the door multiple times until he was able to get it open. It was at that point he realized his right leg was stuck and he couldn't really use his legs to push himself up and out of the vehicle.

"I used the momentum of the door swinging to try and pull myself out. And it helped; it worked."

He ended up in the ditch and pulled himself out of the ditch—that's when he noticed the damage to his right leg.

"My right knee was just so damaged, it looked like a literal hand coming out of it because it was just so broken. Then I looked past it because I didn't want to look at that anymore, and my right foot is turned all the way around somehow."

He said he could not use his right leg at all but noted there was still some movement in his left. So the next step was trying to figure out what to do. He mentioned he left both his phone and jacket in the truck, so he couldn't contact anyone.

Where he crashed ended up being the end of a driveway, and someone's house was around 500 feet away. With the little strength he had, Letkeman knew he needed to start crawling to the front door for help.

Letkeman said it was around 3 a.m. at this point, and all he could think about was getting to that front door before morning.

"I just kept on crawling up this guy's driveway, and I made it about a good three quarters. I was probably crawling for a half hour with one leg severely injured."

All of a sudden, Letkeman said he saw a truck approaching his crashed vehicle on Highway 236. He said he started yelling in hopes he would be noticed. No one got out of the truck, and then it drove away.

"I am sitting all the way up, basically 100 feet from this guy's house, and I see this truck that did stop, all of a sudden leave. And I'm sitting there thinking, 'Well, I guess back to crawling, because that guy isn't helping anymore.' So I get another 10 feet, and then thankfully, I see red and white lights coming. I see the truck coming back. And it's, 'Oh, thank god.'"

He said he couldn't believe that someone was driving down the road at that time and just happened to come across the crash.

Letkeman was taken to Health Sciences Centre and had surgery on both legs for about eight hours.

In total, he said he tore ligaments in his left knee and broke his left ankle. In his right leg, he broke his femur, tibia, and multiple bones in his knee, and had several breaks in his ankle.

He required a steel rod and four pins for his femur; his right knee was reconstructed, and he noted the surgeon told him they had to be very careful turning his foot and ankle around as there was significant nerve damage and all the cartilage was "erased" from his joints.

Since the incident, he said his recovery has been going well. He has been confined to a wheelchair or his bed and has been unable to move either leg.

He said he really appreciates everyone who has helped him during this process—from getting him food or water when moving was difficult to taking care of his dog.

He is also extremely thankful for the person who stopped and called 911.

"Aside from him, there wouldn't have been anybody coming down that road."

He knows it will still be some time before he is completely healed, but he is continuing to embrace each day and is working to heal "as fast as possible."