First Nations woman injured in hit-and-run speaks from hospital bed

A family from the Buffalo Point First Nation is shaken, and looking for answers, after a recent hit-and-run in Winnipeg sent their loved one to hospital with serious injuries that required surgery. 

Calling for people to look out for one another after the horrifying incident, Margaret Cobiness Jr. is still in hospital, recovering from the hit-and-run that took place on Saturday around 12:30 a.m. in the area of Osborne Street and Mulvey Avenue. 

“He waited for me, so I knew it was okay to go,” she said from her hospital bed Wednesday. 

“When I got to his passenger’s side he pressed on the gas and he knocked me over. And then when I tried getting up, he just ran over me again.” 

She says the incident happened quickly, and the driver would have been aware she had been hit, but she says they never returned to the scene, leaving her in peril. 

“He was going forward then he went back, then he went forward over me again and took off,” she said, describing the vehicle that hit her as a white cargo van. 

“I just don’t understand why he did that. I didn’t know what his intentions were. I mean, my last and only thought was that I was gonna get abducted or something.” 

A bystander who found Cobiness on the ground called 911 to get her help, and on Wednesday, the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed an investigation by its Traffic Division into the incident is ongoing.

With injuries like a broken pelvis, fractured ribs and a broken collar bone, Cobiness says she doesn’t want to be angry, but says the violent encounter has left her fearful, frustrated and in pain. 

“I just keep reliving the moment and how much it hurt,” she said. “I thought I was gonna die and my last memories that I had were my children and my parents.”

Her father Ernest Cobiness has been left shaken up by the incident, as Margaret is his youngest of three daughters. 

He says the Southern Chiefs Organization has been helping the family through the hardship, offering them support and accommodation in Winnipeg while Margaret recovers, a journey that could take weeks. 

“I was shocked when I saw the X-rays,” he said. 

He says far too often are Indigenous women victimized and says it’s important people look out for one another, saying what happened to his daughter is unacceptable. 

“She wanted to voice herself and send a message out — we need to support each other, so nothing like this ever happens again. But unfortunately it probably will,” he said. 

“It can take a lot out of you, and it does. The pain, to see your little baby go through this. We’re just so grateful she’s still with us.” 

City police say anyone with information about this incident, including dash cam or CCTV footage, is asked to contact the WPS traffic division or by reporting it to Crime Stoppers.