Client: Awards
Date: April 03, 2012
Two Prince George women who provided heroic assistance to a mother and two children whose vehicle left the highway and rolled down a steep embankment east of Prince George have been honoured with Good Samaritan awards by BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) paramedics.
“The award is truly not necessary,” said recipient Angela Pigeon, “but it’s an honour.”
Christine McComber and her best friend Angela were driving together on November 11, 2011, hauling a trailer with three horses onboard to Alberta.
“It was the first major snowfall of the year,” said Christine, “and we were deciding whether to turn back when we saw a truck parked on the highway and a car down in the ditch.”
The two women pulled over and descended the embankment to discover a family of three in distress and shock. “The boy in the back was only wearing a T-shirt and had the shakes,” Christine observed. “The mother and daughter were upset because they had lost their glasses in the accident but we found one pair.”
“We had clean horse blankets up in the trailer, so we covered everyone up in order to keep them warm,” said Christine. The injured family had also been en route to Alberta in two vehicles to help friends with a move. The father was driving the truck parked at the scene of the accident and had called 911 for emergency assistance.
“When my partner and I arrived at the scene, we found two ladies providing aid and comfort to the family,” said BCAS paramedic Jim Vanderploeg at the award ceremony. “They even helped us carry our emergency medical equipment up and down the embankment. We could not have asked for better help from bystanders than we got with Christine and Angela.”
“We wanted enough hands there to make sure everything went well,” said Christine. “We stayed with the family for about an hour and then we wound up turning around and going home.”
BCAS presents approximately 50 Good Samaritan and Vital Link community awards each year to bystanders who provide care and critical support to patients during a medical emergency.The awards were presented at the BCAS station on Edmonton Street in Prince George on Wednesday, March 28, 2012.
Paramedics Jana Hargreaves and Jim Vanderploeg (left) Good Samaritans Christine McComber and Angela Pigeon (center) and paramedic Roger Boer and Superintendent Craig Parnell (right)
