VANCOUVER - Relatives of a Surrey, B.C., couple seriously injured in a tragic Egyptian bus crash are on their way to Cairo to bring the couple home.
Steve Pannu tells the CBC his daughter, Jennifer, and her husband, Richard El Adam, remain in shock after the accident, which cost Jennifer, 25, her left arm.
The accident, 70 kilometres southeast of the Suez Canal, killed nine and injured at least 30 on Thursday.
Pannu says his 31-year-old son-in-law ignored his own safety to re-enter the burning bus and pull his wife out.
"She wouldn't be with us today," Pannu says. "She would be burnt like the six other people."
He says Jennifer remains in a lot of pain.
"When I talked to her, she could barely utter a few words," a tearful Pannu said.
The couple was headed home and Pannu had planned to pick them up at the Vancouver airport Friday afternoon.
Now, plans are being made to eventually airlift the couple home. That could involve stops in Paris or London, Pannu says.
It's not yet known when the couple will arrive home.
Pannu says Richard kept apologizing when he spoke to him.
"He's in shock," he says. "He just keeps telling us about the accident."
Pannu says Jennifer's arm was amputated above the elbow.
"We didn't know what to say to her," he says. "We called her a cat. She had nine lives."
Pannu said Friday that staff at the Canadian Embassy have been very supportive, as has the family's insurance carrier, Sun Life.
And, that started a debate over the availability of hospital beds in B.C.
Pannu said everyone is working to bring the couple home, but finding a bed in the province is proving difficult.
However, Health Minister George Abbott said that's not true. He said the province's bed management system has been in contact with the couple's doctor in Cairo.
The ministry has been told Jennifer is not fit to travel and won't be for at least a few days.
When she is ready, Abbott said there will be a bed for her, barring some other catastrophic accident in B.C.
He said the family's insurance company wrongly advised them there were no beds for her in the province.
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Article online since May 3rd 2008, 0:00
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