'Trauma will stay with us forever': Sask. man pleads guilty to impaired driving in crash that severely injured 7-year-old

A Regina man who was involved in a collision that severely injured a seven-year-old boy while he was waiting for a school bus has pled guilty to impaired driving.

Charles Howard Raycraft, 47, pled guilty to one count of operating a conveyance while being impaired on Monday.

Sentencing is set to take place on Tuesday at provincial court in Regina.

Raycraft’s second count, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, has yet to be spoken to, according to the courts.

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The collision happened on June 21, 2022.

Seven-year-old Benjamin Dufour was struck by a black Dodge Ram on the 200 block of Dalgliesh Drive at around 8:30 that morning.

The truck had collided with multiple vehicles before hitting Dufour and crashing into a house in the area.

“Imagine running down the street and leaving your youngest alone in the house. Running as fast as you can to see what has happened. You see people huddled around your precious boy laying on the ground. His backpack and glasses have been ripped off his little body,” Cassi Dufour, Ben’s mother said in a victim impact statement.

Ben was stabilized after the crash and had to be airlifted to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital in Saskatoon for multiple broken bones, soft tissue damage to his C-spine as well as a traumatic brain injury.

Around two weeks after the crash – Ben regained consciousness and was showing positive signs of recovery.

“My brave boy spent months recovering. Hospital visits, surgeries, specialists, wheelchairs, ramps, rehabilitations, special diets, pain medications, hallucinations, fear, pain, pins, needles, tubes, scans, X-rays, countless trips to Saskatoon. Imagine this was just a very small portion of what we had to go through,” Cassi’s statement read.

“This trauma will stay with us forever. These memories do not go away.”

In response to the guilty plea, the Dufour family released a statement – thanking those who helped them following Ben’s injuries.

“To everyone who supported us emotionally, financially, and medically, who fed us, checked in on us, soaked up our tears, witnessed our pain, and kept us in their thoughts and prayers, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you,” it read.