A crossing guard in Brockville is lucky to be alive tonight after he was struck by a van. Just as he was hit, a man grabbed him from behind. They were thrown by the impact; bruised but alive.

Jamie Cote and Stacie Lafrance had just dropped off their six year old son at school around 8:45 this morning. They were crossing the busy intersection at the corner of Laurier Avenue and Kensington Parkway with the help of the crossing guard everyone knows as "Andy."

"He was in the middle of the crosswalk,” says Brockville resident Jamie Cote, “and the van just came right on through.  I grabbed him but it wasn't fast enough to get us out of the way.  We both got hit but he took the brunt of it.”

Being an adult crossing guard is something a job Andy McNish has done for five years, ever since retiring. With his bright orange gear, he should have been easy to spot.

“He was thrown over to the side,” says Stacie Lafrance, still shaken by the event, “and the crossing guard was thrown in front of me and I was like what happened?”

Cote was badly bruised. McNish ended up in the hospital. Andy McNish’s wife was back at the intersection this afternoon to lock up her husband’s car.  She spotted Good Samaritan, Jamie Cote and thanked him for saving her husband.

“I yelled “Get out of the way”, Cote told McNish, “and my instinct was to grab him.”  “I’m glad you did,” she said, shaking his hand.

Karen McNish says they are awaiting the results of a CT scan to find out the extent of his injuries.

"What really upsets me,” says McNish, “is that last fall we had someone run a stop sign and totaled our car.  Now I get a call today that my husband's been hit by a car.” 

Right after the accident, Lafrance posted the photos she took at the scene to Facebook.  That prompted a number of responses and several residents questioning the safety of that crosswalk. 

But the Brockville Police say that intersection does not have a higher-than-average number of incidents.

Inspector Scott Fraser with the Brockville Police says, “It's the first time there, hopefully it's the last but hopefully it never happens again.”

Ottawa's Safety Council, however, says adult crossing guards are increasingly at risk on the job.  

"Unfortunately, we have reports back on a daily basis from our adult crossing guards,” says  Sophia Hanafi, with the Ottawa Safety Council, “about near misses, abuse by drivers, that sort of thing

Cote and Lafrance are hoping for changes at this crosswalk.

“Little kids cross here every day.  There needs to be a three way stop here I do believe.”

They are hoping, too, they will see their friend Andy back at this crossing sometime soon.

Brockville Police say they are continuing to interview witnesses but say charges against the driver of the van are likely pending.