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Bobby Weir returns home to Kitimat

Now Bobby Weir is back in his home in Kitimat, prepared to get back to his usual routines.
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Bobby Weir and mom Patti.

His story was told throughout the province and his circumstances rallied his workplace and the whole community to his side.

Now Bobby Weir is back in his home in Kitimat, prepared to get back to his usual routines.

“I’m walking with a cane now. I can do a little bit of a distance without the cane,” he said.

“Other than that, my arm movements are pretty much full.”

Weir’s ordeal began on December 5 last year, when winter conditions caused a highway collision, just outside of town.

With two in the car, Weir caught the worst of it when he became trapped by his seatbelt.

His passenger and friend Kevin Garret Dawson was also hurt, but far less so.

Dawson would wind up helping out three bystanders, John Tyler, his son Jake and their friend Dale Hession, ironworkers in town working on the smelter modernization.

The four battled time to cut Weir loose from his seatbelt and get him away from the car, which was on fire.

Since the accident — which Weir said he only remembers parts of — he has seen some of his rescuers.

Dale, who Weir said is in the Lower Mainland on a course, stopped by to see him, and of course loyal friend Dawson has been a big help during the recovery.

But Dawson won’t count his actions as credit for any favours. Weir said he feels like he owes him after what he did, but Dawson won’t have any of it.

Meanwhile, Weir saw a steady stream of family, friends and co-workers come to visit him in Vancouver.

This after what seemed like the entire community rallied behind him, donating money to either a credit union account or to a SuperValu charity barbecue, held just days after the accident.

“I didn’t know until a week later,” he said of the barbecue.

“When I was told, I was in tears, and happy.”

Many may remember the barbecue, which ran hours longer than initially scheduled, and raised over $18,000 for Weir.

That money would go to pay for various expenses, and Weir said he actually hasn’t physically seen the money, everything being handled for him.

Such a strong community reaction wasn’t quite expected by Weir.

“I expected a little bit, but not that much,” he said.

His SuperValu coworkers even went a step further. When Weir returned to his Kitimat home he found some renovations in his home, from new flooring to an updated bathroom and a new bed.

His mother Patti is by his side for now, spending time as he gets set back up.

She came to see her son every day for the first month he was in hospital.

The entire experience has been an amazing one, with so much attention to his situation, which included news stories even in provincial media outlets.

He’s been mostly indifferent to all the attention but said there is a part of him that’s appreciated it.

But at the end of the day, it’s being alive and having been helped so much that he enjoys the most.

“I’m happy to be here.”