Print

Mail

wiki links

Canadian English teacher dies after crash

A Canadian English teacher living in Chiayi City died in a hospital yesterday morning after colliding head-on with a local teenage couple in a motorcycle accident early last week.

Matt Stever, 27, of Quinte, Ontario, had lived and taught in Chiayi City for more than four years.

Stever and the two teenagers suffered serious injuries on Jan. 14 when their motorcycles collided near St. Martins Hospital. Stever suffered head and neck injuries and went into cardiac arrest, but was revived upon arrival at the hospital. The teenage couple, who were not wearing helmets, suffered multiple injuries. The young woman passed away on Saturday, while the male driver remains in critical condition.

Following emergency treatment at St. Martins Hospital, Stever was transferred to Tainan County's Chi-mai Hospital. Stever remained in a coma but his condition stabilized long enough for his parents to arrive in Taiwan on an emergency flight from Canada.

Speaking from the hospital, Roger Stever, Matt's father, expressed heartfelt gratitude to the "compassionate and very caring" doctors and nurses, whom he described as "God's angels sent to Matt and to us," and to Matt's wide circle of friends for their unstinting support.

Stever was a long-time member of the Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League (CIHL), captain of the Chiayi Sharks -- the CIHL's 2005-2006 champions -- and the league's reigning Most Valuable Player.

He also played on the Typhoon International squad -- an ice hockey team that has represented Taiwan at numerous international tournaments over the years in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Thailand, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

This week, the Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey Federation and the CIHL will host Taiwan's first ever international ice hockey tournament in support of the Stever family. The event will feature Stever's own International Typhoon squad, the Hong Kong Black Kites, the Shanghai Red Guards and four other Taiwanese teams.

Games will be at the Taipei Arena, at the corner of Nanjing E and Dunhua N Roads, with the opening ceremony beginning at 1:15pm on Saturday, followed by a game between the Hong Kong Black Kites and the Chinese Taipei National Under-18 squad.

The tournament's championship game will be played on Sunday at 10:30am.

Admission is free, but all donations and proceeds from the tournament will go to help the Stever family pay for their son's considerable medical expenses. Donations can also be remitted to Fubon Bank, account number 621168042293.
This story has been viewed 4369 times.