A 44-year-old Langley woman is in critical condition in hospital after suffering a massive heart attack as she drove on Highway 1 through Burnaby during Thursday morning’s rush hour.
That the mother-of-three is alive is due to two Good Samaritans who risked their own lives to save hers.
RCMP spokesman Cpl. Annie Linteau said that the woman, who has not been named, lost control of her Volkswagen Golf as she drove westbound on the freeway near the Brunette Avenue off ramp, shortly before 9 a.m. on Thursday.
Her car collided with a highway barrier.
“In an amazing display of bravery, skillful driving and quick thinking, Courtney Smith pulled his vehicle – a Kia Sedona — in front of the woman’s car. Using his vehicle, he managed to safely bring the woman’s car to a stop,” Linteau said.
Ron MacLeod, an enforcement officer with the Agricultural Land Commission, stopped his truck and activated his emergency lights.
He and Smith jumped out of their vehicles and, as the woman’s car doors were locked, used a tire jack to smash out the window. With the help of two other motorists who stopped to help, they pulled the unconscious woman out. She had no pulse.
“Mr. MacLeod began performing CPR right there in the HOV lane, with little regard for his own safety,” Linteau said.
An RCMP traffic officer arrived two minutes later, and helped McLeod perform chest compressions, and called for emergency health services.
MacLeod and the police officer continued CPR until paramedics arrived, at which time the woman was resuscitated. She was taken to hospital where doctors determined she had suffered a massive heart attack.
“We’re very thankful for the actions of Mr. Smith and Mr. MacLeod, as well as the other two motorists who stopped to help,” Linteau said.
“They not only helped save this woman’s life, it’s very likely they also prevented other serious injuries or worse, as this all occurred on the busiest highway in the region, during rush hour,” she said.
Smith, a Laser Valley Technologies sales rep, first thought he was witnessing a case of road rage.
“I saw this black VW out of control, go across a couple lanes into the HOV lane and almost hit a Ferrari,” he told Black Press on Friday.
“A couple of cars boxed her in and I thought they were just trying to calm the person down. But by the time I drove by I realized that the lady was unconscious and slumped over into her passenger seat while we were going around 80 kms-an-hour.”
Harvey Sashi, a 22-year-old BCIT student, was one of those drivers trying to pin the erratic vehicle against the centre median from the side, while Macleod got behind the Volkswagen and activated his emergency lights.
“So I drove up in front of her,” Smith said, “and slowed down until she touched my bumper but I realized her car was too heavy. So I drove up further and stopped and when she hit me, I let go of my brakes so it bumped me forward and that pushed her into the meridian and stopped her.”
— with files from Todd Coyne, Tri City News
