A head-on crash on Highway 18 on Sunday has claimed the life of a Metchosin teen, the grandson of the town’s former mayor, John Ranns.
Daniel Ranns, 18, a lacrosse player who recently graduated from Royal Bay Secondary School in Colwood, died after his westbound compact pickup was hit by an eastbound one-tonne pickup.
North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP responded at 2:22 p.m. to a report of a head-on collision in the eastbound lane of Highway 18, near Duncan.
B.C. RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said the investigation remains in the very early stages and “all causal factors are not yet known,” but witnesses suggest the compact pickup may have drifted into the oncoming lane, where it struck the other truck.
The compact pickup came to rest in the ditch, trapping the driver.
Crews tried to extricate the teen but he was later pronounced dead “despite life-saving efforts by first responders,” Clark said in an email.
B.C. Coroners Service said it is investigating the death.
The other driver was taken to hospital with apparently minor injuries and no one else was injured.
Daniel’s mother, Dawn Ranns, is the director of athletics at St. Margaret’s School in Saanich and father Adam Ranns, the eldest of John Ranns’ four children, worked for Pacific Coast Community Resources. Both parents coach lacrosse, as did Daniel.
The couple and their four children had moved from the U.S. to Vancouver Island in 2020 to take over John Ranns’ farm growing mixed produce and running a microgreens operation. Since that time, the family has greatly expanded the farm, Ranns said.
“Daniel just blossomed when he was here and endeared us all to him.”
Ranns said his grandson was in the Cowichan Valley on Sunday to look at a trailer he could potentially park on the Metchosin property and live in.
“I guess there’s a dealership up there and he was quite excited that he was going to look at some [trailers],” said Ranns, calling his grandson a content kid and independent thinker who worked for Landmark Sign Company and helped run the farm.
He played lacrosse for the Royal Bay Lacrosse Academy program for four years and played for the Westshore Bears.
“He was just a happy smiling kid, very much loved by many people and his family,” said John Ranns.
Ranns said as he revisited photos of Daniel on Monday, he noticed most of them show the 6’5” teen either carrying a sibling or a cousin on his shoulders or playing with them. “He was just loved by all our other grandchildren.”
Ranns said the family is “devastated” by Daniel’s death, and is asking for privacy while they deal with the loss.
“As much as they appreciate all sorts of love and sympathy for them, they’d still like a few days to come to grips with it,” he said.
“We all love him.”
Anyone with any information or dash-cam footage of the crash who has not yet spoken with police is asked to contact the North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP at 250-748-5522.
