A Friday night mother-daughter bike ride in Coldstream resulted in both women being struck by a passing vehicle which failed to stop afterward.
Mae Hooper, 55, of Vernon, and her youngest daughter, Hannah Mehain, 17, both athletes, had been cycling westbound uphill on Buchanan Road west of Ricardo Road on a training run just after 8 p.m.
The women told family members that a small white car had come within inches of hitting them and that the car “continued on past driving erratically.”
Shaken by the close call, the two women stayed to the right as far as possible on the roadBut just five minutes after the white car scare, a dark-coloured truck struck both women.
Hooper, who was in the rear, was hit first and was launched about 15 feet onto a pile of rocks off the side of the road.
The truck then struck Mehain, a local athlete who won two silver medals at the Haywood Nationals Canadian Cross-Country Skiing Championships in Whitehorse, and who competed at the World Junior Championships in Romania.
The vehicle did not stop.
Hooper sustained a concussion and back injuries, along with a major crack in her bike helmet which her sister believes helped save her life.
Mehain suffered a scraped knee. Both women were taken to Vernon Jubilee Hospital and were released on Saturday.
Vernon-North Okanagan RCMP are appealing to the public and the driver of the truck for information.
“Initial reports suggest a dark-coloured, full-size, newer truck was involved,” said Const. Tyler Jackson.
“We and the family are seeking the public’s assistance to identify the truck that fled the scene.”
Anybody with any information is asked to call the Vernon-North Okanagan detachment at 250-545-7171, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.