A cyclist recovering from a crash on the Trans-Canada Highway near Ernfold on Sunday morning is thanking first responders and motorists for their care.
Doug Angle was about 20 kilometres into his ride along the busy highway, travelling eastbound from Herbert to Moose Jaw, when he was struck by a vehicle.
"I felt this bang, and I'm lying on my back, looking straight up," he told Swift Current Online Thursday morning.
"It looks like the car hit my pannier, my saddlebag, and ripped it off the bike, which would take some force. I was thrown from the bike and smacked onto the pavement."
The Sydenham, Ont. resident suspects he was travelling around 22-25 km/hr when he was hit.
Within moments, several motorists stopped to assist Angle and contact emergency services.
"They said don't move, don't move," he recalled. "Trust me, moving was the last thing on my to-do list."
"I don't know if you've ever been injured significantly, but just lying there trying to see what body parts are working and which ones aren't. I wasn't looking around."
Angle didn't share much about the motorist who struck him while he was biking on the shoulder of the road.
"I don't think I'll go into that too much," he said. "RCMP is doing whatever they do."
Swift Current Online was contacted Tuesday afternoon by Lachlan Maclean, who said he and his wife stopped to help Angle at the scene.
"The driver that hit him took off, leaving his entire right mirror assembly on the road," Maclean said in an email. "He’d hit the guy so hard the mirror tore off his car. I hope police catch the perpetrator, and that the cyclist has a speedy recovery."
Swift Current Online has reached out to the Saskatchewan RCMP regarding the incident, but didn't receive any information before publishing time.
Angle was transported to the Cypress Regional Hospital in Swift Current, where he was treated until Wednesday upon his release.
"They cleaned me up and bandaged (me)," he said. "Did the whole CT and X-ray work. I had no head injuries, no neck or spine injuries. I did not pass out, I was never unconscious."
The crash left extensive cuts, scrapes, and bruising on the left side of his body, but his injuries are categorized as minor.
"It doesn't feel real minor right now," he said with a laugh. "I have an imprint of the pattern of the helmet on my head. And I think the helmet came over the front and broke my nose... Unless you're the person experiencing it, you would call it minor injuries."
Angle was blown away by the care he received from the public, first responders, and healthcare workers.
"I appreciate the help from the EMTs, the professionals at the hospital, the RCMP, and the people that stopped and put a blanket over me because I was chilled," he said.
The final southwest gift of generosity will be en route to eastern Ontario shortly. Angle said Pedal Works in Swift Current is working on returning his bike to him.
The cycling enthusiast has been biking portions of Canada each summer since 2018, and this summer he was planning to finish the final stretch from Calgary to Winnipeg.
"That's going to have to wait and see," he said in regards to biking the remaining 750 kilometres left in the cross-country journey.