P.E.I. woman in 'rough shape' after being injured in ATV crash

A Summerside, P.E.I., woman says she won't get back on an all-terrain vehicle without a helmet after she was badly injured in a crash.

Bridgette Butler and her grandson, Landon, 7, were test driving an ATV last weekend in Darnley when Butler says the machine hit a patch of slush and rolled. 

"I only had one helmet and I had the grandson with me and I put the helmet on him and I didn't have one on — that's why I'm in such rough shape," Butler said from her hospital bed in Halifax on Thursday.

She and her grandson were both thrown from the vehicle.

Butler sustained serious injuries. She was rushed to Prince County Hospital in Summerside and later airlifted to Halifax. There she was treated for facial fractures, seven broken ribs and a blood clot in her head, which required surgery.

'Glad my baby is OK'

Landon escaped with only bruises, scrapes and road rash. 

Butler said she blacked out and doesn't remember a lot of what happened immediately after the crash.

"[Landon's] the one who saved my life because he [ran] back to the house where we got the four-wheeler," she said. 

"I'm just glad my baby is OK."

East Prince RCMP Cpl. Nick Doyle said the crash remains under investigation. He said alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Landon's mom, Danielle Michalewski of Summerside, said she hugged her son a little tighter that day, after learning about the crash.

"He's terrified," she said. "He said already, he's not going on one again."

Landon had a chance to visit with his "nanna" in hospital in Halifax on Thursday. 

Butler said she'll never get on an ATV without a helmet again. 

"I figured I'd be safe enough," she said. "We ain't getting on a four-wheeler again without a helmet." 

More from CBC P.E.I.