'We are survivors': Family of Western P.E.I. teen struck by motorcycle speaks in court 

The family of a Western Prince Edward Island teenager who lost his leg after being hit by a motorcycle in 2020 had their chance to have their voices heard in court on Wednesday. 

It's been nearly three years since Ryan MacKinnon, then 15, was struck by a motorcycle while walking down the street in O'Leary.

Taylor Edward Cooke, 24, was found guilty of dangerous driving causing bodily harm at a trial last fall, and was in P.E.I. Supreme Court in Slemon Park for sentencing Wednesday, along with members of his family. 

MacKinnon was in the courtroom as well, along with several of his relatives. Many of them chose to join him in reading victim impact statements to tell the court how the incident changed their lives. 

In the teenager's statement, which a victim services worker read aloud to the court, he said he was walking down the street after a late workout at the gym on the night of Aug. 6, 2020. He had been preparing for upcoming hockey tryouts. 

That's when the motorcycle hit him.  

"I don't remember anything after that until I opened my eyes and my friend and his sister were looking over me in terror," the statement said. 

"Eventually I seen red lights in the distance… The screams from my friend and his sister — I will never forget those screams." 

When I got home and started getting around more, I felt so out of place … people looked at me differently.— Ryan MacKinnon in victim impact statement

MacKinnon's statement went on to say he doesn't remember much else before he woke up at the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre in Halifax, where his parents told him one of his legs had been amputated. 

He told them he needed only one leg, but that was before he understood the severity of his injuries and how difficult his recovery would be. MacKinnon, who now uses a prosthetic leg, said his experience has been painful and is far from over. 

"When I got home and started getting around more, I felt so out of place … people looked at me differently," the statement continued. 

MacKinnon said he suffers from flashbacks when he drives by the place where the collision happened, and is now triggered by the sound of motorcycles.

'Nothing prepares you'

His mother Dianne MacKinnon said she experiences flashbacks too. She told the court that night is one she'll never be able to forget. 

"I remember jumping out of our beds and running to our vehicles," she said. "I remember thinking the flashing lights were so much more vibrant and harsh, knowing they were for Ryan." 

MacKinnon said she and her family spent months in hospital rooms away from home, watching her son go through painful treatments. 

"Nothing prepares you for how to tell your high-functioning, athlete son that he is now an amputee," she said. 

She told the court the experience has affected everyone in her family and she's angry it has taken this long to work the matter through the courts. She said no one in her family will be able to truly heal until this process is over. 

Nothing prepares you for how to tell your high-functioning, athlete son that he is now an amputee.— Dianne MacKinnon

"We are survivors. Ryan isn't the only one who came out of this experience with lifelong scars… Mr. Cooke chose his action, and because of those actions, our lives will be altered forever," she said. 

The court also heard statements from Ryan MacKinnon's father, his two sisters, his uncle and aunts. They said they often feel anxiety, fear and grief, as well as frustration that there are opportunities he will no longer have as a result of the collision. 

They spoke about how resilient he has been and told the court he is on track to graduate from high school this year. Many of them cried in the courtroom while listening to each other speak. 

The judge thanked everyone in the courtroom for speaking and said he knew how difficult that would be. 

'I'm sorry for my actions'

Crown attorney John Diamond asked the judge to consider the seriousness of a dangerous driving offence when he sentences Cooke.

"It is difficult and it is a delicate process," he said. "Members of the community who share highways do so with the expectation of safe passage… This is a social value that's expressed in the Canadian experience through the enactment of the Criminal Code.

"Driving is a privilege."

The Crown recommended a sentence of between 20 months in provincial jail to two years in a federal prison, plus probation and a driving prohibition. 

It's terrible, the whole thing that happened and it's a shame that anybody has to go through it. I hope that they continue to do well and Ryan continues to get better.— Taylor Edward Cooke

Cooke's lawyer asked the judge to consider the fact that he was only 22 at the time of the collision and had no prior criminal record.

He recommended a conditional sentence, which could be served outside of jail but would include strict supervision and could include house arrest or curfew. 

Taylor Cooke also addressed the courtroom and told the judge he wanted to apologize.

"I'm sorry for my actions on Aug. 6 and the poor decision on my behalf that caused so much stuff for Ryan and his family and friends," Cooke said. "It's terrible, the whole thing that happened, and it's a shame that anybody has to go through it. I hope that they continue to do well and Ryan continues to get better." 

He also apologized to his own family for the stress the situation has caused. 

The judge told the court he needed more time to consider everything he'd heard in court and prepare his decision. 

Cooke will return to court to for sentencing on March 30.