Winnipeg man in 'exhausting' fight with MPI over wheelchair, medication coverage after near-fatal crash

A Winnipeg man says Manitoba Public Insurance is refusing to cover the costs of required equipment and prescriptions for his recovery after he was nearly killed in a collision last summer. 

Dan Leveille and his wife said they are spending thousands of dollars a month for his treatment and recovery care, which they say should be covered by the Crown corporation.

"It's hard," Leveille said. "The battle to get the help that I need, that we need, has caused an inordinate amount of stress for all of us. It's a huge strain."

On June 14, 2023, Leveille was driving his motorcycle to work down Talbot Avenue when a minivan that police say was driven by a drunk driver cut him off. 

Leveille was thrown from his bike and smashed into the van's windshield before landing metres away on the concrete. 

The impact was so intense, his helmet flew off. 

"All I remember is impact," he said. "You just feel physical force — and then I don't remember anything else."

The driver of the minivan originally fled the scene, but was arrested shortly after the crash, police said in a news release.

The man, 22 years old at the time, was charged with several offences, including impaired driving causing bodily harm, and is expected to be in court on the charges in July. 

Leveille spent 12 days in the intensive care unit after the crash and required several surgeries. 

"It was a very scary time, not knowing what condition he was in because he was taken to … life-saving surgeries just to stabilize him," said his wife, Tobi. 

His injuries included vertebrae and pelvis fractures, a sheared sacrum and a ruptured rectum, along with several broken bones.

He spent eight months in the hospital, including five during which he couldn't get out of bed.

"It's hard being away from home," he said through tears. "It was a sentence that I didn't deserve."