A seven-year-old Squamish girl was honoured Thursday for her heroic efforts to save her mother following a serious car crash.
It happened on Sept. 9 near Squamish, when the car carrying Adelaide Paris and her mom Brynn went off Highway 99 and down a nine-metre (30 foot) embankment.
With her mom injured and strapped in the front seat, the child was able to scramble free, climb up the steep embankment, and wave down help.
“As there were no witnesses to the vehicle leaving the road, it may have taken a very long time for family, friends and even police to realize what had happened, furthermore, to locate the vehicle down the embankment,” Squamish RCMP Const. Ashley MacKay said Thursday, in presenting the youngster with a citation for her bravery.
Adelaide’s mother still can’t wrap her head around how the child was able to stay cool following the frightening crash.
But retelling the story a month later, the seven-year-old made it sound easy.
“I found a window, kicked it open because it was cracked and there was already a bit of a hole in it, climbed up the bank in my bare feet and started waving down help,” she told Global News.
“There were wet mossy rocks, I put my feet on the smaller ones that are locked in, and a few of them fell and bumped into the car, I almost tripped, but I got up the bank,” she added.
Adelaide was able to flag down a passing motorist, who contacted police, paramedics and the Britannia Beach Volunteer Fire department who were able to extricate Brynn.
“I think she saved my life. If she hadn’t been in the car … I don’t know what would have happened, how much blood I would have lost,” Brynn said.
“I still have no idea how she did that. She climbs like a monkey most days, so I guess she used that skill to get up the embankment and up the road.”
Both Adelaide and Brynn suffered lacerations and required more than a dozen stiches, and while Brynn’s wrists remain bandaged the pair are well on their way to recovery.
“She is my angel,” said Brynn.