Now Reading: One woman’s long fight to recover from injuries at Lapu Lapu Day tragedy
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One woman’s long fight to recover from injuries at Lapu Lapu Day tragedy
One woman’s long fight to recover from injuries at Lapu Lapu Day tragedy
Christi-Ann Watkins left hospital in a wheelchair, then progressed to using a cane. She walks with a limp and can only stand for about an hour.
She visits her kinesiologist, physical therapist and chiropractor weekly. Her scarred hands cause her “excruciating pain” if they rub against anything.
“Just recently I was able to fold laundry,” she said.
The Vancouver mother is one of the victims from the April 26 Lapu Lapu Day tragedy when an SUV driver plowed through a street of people, killing 11 people and injuring dozens from ages five to 65. Kai-Ji Adam Lo is accused of driving the SUV and faces 11 counts of second-degree murder.
For some, the recovery has been long and arduous. Police confirmed Friday that the two people who remain in hospital are stable.
Watkins, who performed at and helped organize the festival, has not been able to return to her day job at a chocolate shop but has slowly returned to working as a DJ, with some modifications.
She shared her update in the same week that city and police officials released a final report reviewing public safety at outdoor events. The report stated that all required safety guidelines were followed for the festival and the city is considering permanent barriers in public areas.
People attend a vigil near the scene where a car drove into a crowd of people during the Lapu Lapu Festival on April 27, 2025 in Vancouver, Canada. Police said a 30-year-old man drove his car into a crowd at a Filipino street festival, killing at least eleven people and injuring multiple others.
Filipino BC, the organizers of the Lapu Lapu Day festival, said Friday more needs to be done to support those affected: “The delivery of tangible support and resources has been slow and inconsistent.”
The group called on government to step up the response to the attack, and added it took place in a “chronically underfunded and racialized” neighbourhood.
Watkins thinks the city report didn’t offer sustainable solutions and said the main issue is mental health issues.
“This incident didn’t happen because there were less police. This incident didn’t happen because there were less barricades. This incident happened because someone was having a mental-health issue,” Watkins said.
Her memories of that day are vivid.
Her son, Nox, won the breakdancing competition and was very proud of himself. The mother and son enjoyed the rest of the festival, a joyous celebration of Filipino culture, before making a quick stop to a blue food truck so Nox could have a treat. They ran into some of Watkins’ colleagues and chatted.
“We took a picture and the time-stamp was like 8:02 p.m. and then literally a minute or two later, we get hit,” Watkins said. “I was conscious through everything. I was conscious through impact. I remember screeching noises, crunching of metal.”
Watkins didn’t see the car coming and assumes it came from behind. Next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground on her side.
A screenshot from a video taken in the aftermath of a mass casualty event at the Lapu Lapu festival on East 43rd Avenue near Fraser Street in Vancouver. Credit: Abigail Andiso
She couldn’t understand what was going on, but just kept telling herself to, “keep your eyes open and keep breathing.”
Soon after, a woman came up to Watkins and started putting pressure on what she now knows was a gash on the side of her head. The woman also held Watkins’ neck straight and told her not to move until an ambulance arrived. Watkins was taken to Royal Columbian Hospital, where she remained for 10 days.
It’s been a long recovery.
She sustained a fractured knee, a fractured pelvis, fractured ribs, a fractured neck, and a punctured lung and spleen.
Watkins feels she is doing a lot better mentally than others because she didn’t see any of the carnage that night.
Christi-Ann Watkins and her son Nox. She is still concerned her son’s memories of the tragedy may surface later.
She recalled realizing this when she attended a luncheon for the Lapu Lapu Day survivors and victims’ loved ones.
“I wasn’t the only one who rolled up there in a wheelchair, I wasn’t the only one who was physically injured. But it was the ones who didn’t have the obvious physical limitations, you could see in their eyes that they were dealing with some stuff,” Watkins said.
Watkins still worries for her son, who was not injured but witnessed the tragedy. Watkins said other attendees told her there had been a dead woman in front of Nox that night.
Her son is doing well, but Watkins worries memories might surface later.
“I really had to put myself in his shoes. I can only imagine at 11 years old all of this chaos happening around him, being afraid, doesn’t know where his mom is,” she said.
“We’re totally aware that even if he doesn’t remember now, he might remember later on. It’s just an open line of communication, we’re always ready.”
With files from Susan Lazaruk and the Canadian Press
