Our Sweet Little Benjamin

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022, Ben, his older brother Alex, and two schoolmates were standing at the bus stop waiting for the school bus to pick them up for school, as they do every day.

On this day, an out-of-control black truck came down the street, moving with enough force to strike three parked cars and two fences, before colliding with a house. At some point during this chaos, the truck struck Ben.

 

The emergency personnel and members of the community were amazing in helping Ben at the scene. Regina EMS transported him to the Regina General Hospital, where he was stabilized after several traumatic hours. The family is incredibly grateful to the members of the community, Regina EMS, Fire, Police, and staff at the General Hospital for the extraordinary care and compassion Ben received.

 

Once stable, Ben was immediately air-lifted to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon to treat his multiple, serious injuries. He is in critical condition, is intubated and sedated. Ben’s list of injuries is long. He has a broken femur, broken humerus, broken pelvis, broken ribs, broken sternum, skull fractures, and soft tissue damage to his c-spine, and the list doesn’t end there. He is currently stable and has undergone several surgeries, but the big unknown is the traumatic brain injury. Ben is currently in the Jim Pattison Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, where he receives exceptional care from the staff.

 

Ben’s parents have been by his side 24 hours a day and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. We know that the recovery process for Ben is very long at the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. Once he can return to Regina, frequent trips to Saskatoon will be necessary. We have been told that rehab for Ben will be a long and gruelling process.

 

Ben is a self-proclaimed “middle child who loves milk.” He has a mischievous personality and loves to spend his days catching Pokémon with his brother, Alex. He is a budding TikTok star  who loves swimming in his grandma’s pool with Alex and his sister, Gracie. Ben loves to play soccer and football and was looking forward to learning how to fish this summer. Ben was finishing his flag football season this spring and was looking forward to football camp this summer. He was registered for soccer in the fall and was looking forward to continuing hockey, soccer and football in the winter. We are heartbroken that Ben will not be able to do any of these things in the near future.

 

Ben has a large extended family and many friends who love and care about him. The family sincerely appreciates all the support they have received.

 

We appreciate members of the media respecting the privacy of the Dufour family during this difficult time. Everyone’s focus right now is our sweet little Benjamin and his family.