Joey Bruno, a third-year apprentice in the Auto Body and Collision Technician at Okanagan College has been preparing for the BC’s Provincial Skilled Trades and Technology competition for the past month.
While on his way to compete in the collision repair category of the competition the car he was riding in rear-ended another vehicle, and the crash resulted in the vehicle being totalled.
“I knew our car was a write-off, but I also knew I could fix it,” said Bruno.
With the clock ticking on the eight-hour competition, Bruno was eager to get in, finish and think about the accident later.
Although he arrived late, it only took Bruno about 30 minutes to get his bearings and calm down before putting his head down to work on a major fender repair.
Bruno’s coach could see he was stiff and sore from the accident. “At times it was hard to watch,” says Andreas Roth, OC’s Collision Repair Instructor. “Joey looked fatigued, but he kept on going. He’s a very determined person.”
Once he completed his assignments, he noticed that some people still hadn’t finished and that some had even given up and quit.
That’s when he realized his resilience paid off and he was going to come out on top.
Bruno credits OC for his success, praising the facilities and quality of instruction. In fact, his coach Roth came to OC as a student in 2014 and also won medals at provincial and national skills competitions before becoming an instructor.
“Our little college is competitive with any institution in the country,” Roth says. “We have great focus on keeping on top of technology and increasing the quality of education.”
Bruno, who has since recovered from minor injuries sustained in the crash, is looking forward to competing at the Skills Canada competition in Vancouver on May 25.
In the meantime, he wants to repair the car he was riding in at the time of the accident.
