Athlete struck just minutes from Olympic/Paralympic venue
UPDATE: A Richmond RCMP statement to The Curling News has been added at the end of this story.
A Canadian wheelchair curling hero was struck by a vehicle and killed within a 20-minute drive of the site of his greatest triumph.
Darryl Neighbour, third for Jim Armstrong’s Vancouver 2010 Paralympic wheelchair curling champions, died last week after a collision in Richmond.
Neighbour was reportedly struck by an SUV as he made a legal street crossing in his wheelchair.
“We are devastated,” a B.C. curling source told The Curling News.
OBS via Canadian Paralympic Committee“The SUV driver would have been so high up in the vehicle that they did not see a wheelchair user with a lower profile in the intersection.
“This is a significant problem for wheelchair users trying to safely cross streets.”
Neighbour and former Brier competitor Armstrong, along with teammates Sonja Gaudet and Ina Forrest, captured gold on home ice at Hillcrest – now the Vancouver Curling Centre – before raucous crowds.
It was literally home ice, as the four main team members hailed from British Columbia, with Neighbour located minutes away in Richmond.
Neighbour braces Gaudet at Vancouver 2010 • CPCNeighbour also won three national titles, the last coming in 2016. He was inducted into the Curling Canada Hall of Fame that year.
“It was a total surprise, and then a shock,” Neighbour told Curling Canada at the time. “It was the same way I felt when we won the (Paralympic) gold medal in 2010. Ironically, I was curling a league game at the Olympic venue when I got the call, so it was only fitting.”
Neighbour was still on the ice as of last fall, throwing stones. He turned 78 last month.
The Curling News made an enquiry with Richmond RCMP regarding the collision. Following the initial publication of this story, Richmond RCMP replied with the following:
Richmond RCMP responded to a report of a collision involving a vehicle and a person using a mobility device at the intersection of Granville Avenue and No. 2 Road on August 11, 2026. The individual was transported to hospital following the incident.
Police were later notified that the individual had died; however, the cause of death has not been determined, and investigators have not established a connection between the collision and the death.
The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with investigators. The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
