Witness says motorcyclist severely injured after Lincoln Alexander Parkway collision in Hamilton

Editor’s note: Some details are graphic.

James Tucker, a transport truck driver, says he was heading eastbound towards Stoney Creek on the Lincoln Alexander Parkway when he saw a motorcycle in the air.

Traffic “was bumper to bumper high volume” but “moving well,” Tucker recalls, estimating vehicles moving from 60 to 80 kilometres per hour.

“Like if the crash happened at 01 (seconds), I saw 02. I saw it as it was happening,  But I didn’t see what caused it. … I just saw as the motorcycle was in the air, pieces and debris were flying and obviously traffic was slowing down and stopped on the other side,” says Tucker, 39, of Cambridge, Ont., in a phone interview with hamilton.insauga.com on Tuesday, May 23. 

Police said the crash closed part of the Lincoln Alexander Parkway this morning. The sections of the expressway have reopened this afternoon.

Just before 8:30 a.m., officers were called to the scene of a serious collision between a motorcycle and a vehicle.  Two people were transported to hospital, one of them in critical condition with a “life-altering” injury.

Tucker told hamilton.insauga.com that the victim’s leg was severed below the knee.

Paramedics said they could not confirm the exact nature of the injury.

Tucker, who works for MacMillan Transportation Systems in Erin, Ont., says he was heading to a delivery in Hamilton when he noticed the flying motorcycle as he was passing the underpass at Upper Gage Avenue. He says about 15 people got out of their cars and were standing there looking at the victim, so he pulled over and ran across the highway.

His truck stopped at 8:23 a.m., travelling in the opposite direction of the collision. When he talked to other witnesses, Tucker says they told him they believed the motorcyclist couldn’t stop in time when traffic abruptly halted, causing the victim to collide with a black SUV and then a utility trailer in the other lane. 

“Everything went to hell,” Tucker says.

He recalls seeing people get out of their cars, standing there, some with their phones. 

Man believed to be in ’70s in critical condition: paramedics

Hamilton police did not want to confirm any more details beyond their tweets about the accident. “That’s all we’re providing at this time. More information will be available as the investigation progresses,” Const. Indy Bharaj, public information officer with the Hamilton police, told hamilton.insauga.com.

Hamilton Paramedic Services confirmed that a man believed to be in his 70s, who was the motorcyclist, was transported to a local trauma centre in critical condition. A second man believed to be in his 60s was sent to a local hospital with “minor injuries,” said David Thompson, superintendent with Hamilton Paramedic Service.

Thompson said he couldn’t provide details about specific injuries.

In his account of the accident, Tucker says he saw the motorcyclist injured, with a potentially broken hand and a severe lower body injury. 

He ran towards the motorcyclist, who didn’t respond to his attempts to get him to say something. “I then looked for breathing and a pulse. He was breathing,” he said.

When he noticed the person was missing his left leg below the knee, he said he yelled for people to call 911. Then he asked another man for a belt and used it to make a tourniquet to help stop the bleeding.   

‘I’m still a little overwhelmed right now’

An off-duty paramedic came from across the road to help out, according to Tucker. Another woman and others brought blankets and other materials.

“The gentleman tried to get up. I kind of had to help hold him down to the ground and waited for the ambulance to come,” Tucker said, noting he believes the motorcyclist was not conscious.

Paramedics then arrived and Tucker said he, one woman and another man helped put him on the gurney and load him on the back of the ambulance.

“I walked away and literally that’s when everything hit me and I was in shock and I broke down, you know what I mean. I’m still a little overwhelmed right now,” he said, appearing to be crying. “I was fine at the moment and it was just after the fact. And now it’s just like seeing what I saw and everything is just … it’s really tough.” 

For Tucker, the accident was a triggering moment. During Thanksgiving weekend in 2019, a home lawn tractor hit a rut, flipped over, and cut off his leg, which was “hanging by the calf muscle.”

“So I made a tourniquet for myself and I crawled and screamed for three hours because I was bleeding to death. So someone found me and saved my life,” he said. “It hit really close to home and I think that’s why after he was in the ambulance and being taken away, that’s why I think I broke down and I started to cry and I couldn’t breathe … I couldn’t catch my breath just because it hit very close to home.” 

Tucker had to undergo multiple surgeries to reattach his leg, and is now able to drive a truck.