‘I thought the train had blown’: Woman shot in face with prop gun at Aspen Crossing

A Chestermere woman is in recovery after being shot in the face with a prop gun during a performance at Aspen Crossing.

On Aug. 13, Dawn Deschamps attended a train excursion at the attraction one hour Southeast of Calgary, with her sister, two aunts and uncle.

The event involved a champagne brunch, and near the end, a train robbery performance.

One actor in the robbery was using a prop gun when it was fired about a foot from Deschamps’s face.

“He had his bag and he was shaking it saying I’m taking all your money right, and then the next thing I know, I heard a loud bang and my head went back,” she said.

“My ears were ringing, and I felt like my airway, my face was on fire I didn’t know what happened.”

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She was the only one injured in the train car and now faces a long recovery.

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Gun powder ended up in Deschamps’s left eye, left eardrum and embedded in her forehead.

“The stuff won’t come off that’s on my forehead, it’s embedded into my skin. Hopefully, as it’s healing it’s going to come out. If not, then they’re going to freeze it and scrape it all off and do a skin graft on my forehead,” said Deschamps.

After the incident, she was asked by police if she wanted to press charges against the man who discharged the prop gun. She declined.

“It was a fluke, and it just happened to be him holding the gun when it went off that’s all. He didn’t mean to do it. I heard him when they were taking me out,” said Deschamps.

“I could hear in his voice, he was crying. I don’t, I don’t feel anger anything with him at all.”

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“The event that occurred was a complete accident and the safety of our guests is paramount,” Aspen Crossing said in a statement. “Our team has since reviewed and taken new precautionary measures in our staff training to ensure this can not happen again.”

When asked what new precautionary measures Aspen Crossing has implemented, they said they couldn’t elaborate at this time.

Deschamps is now on the road to recovery, with a surgery planned for Aug. 23 to remove gun powder from her eye.

An extra grueling recovery, as her allergies prevent her from taking anything other than Advil for pain relief.

“I hurt a little, but I’m healing. And, you know, it’s, it’s all going to be better after.”

While Deschamps hasn’t given much thought to legal action, she does hope Aspen Crossing switches the prop guns they use.

She says injuries could have been much worse if the gun powder hit a child or her elderly aunt who was sitting beside her.

“My aunt, when we first started was going to sit in my chair, but she didn’t want to ride backward on the train. So I said well no problem, I’ll trade with you. Thank God I did though because it would have hit her.

“You know you can have just as much fun using a gun that’s not real with blanks in it, you don’t need to use that.”

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Deschamps’s injuries have caused her and her sister Roxanne to lose income, as her sister takes care of her.

For now, the family is only concerned with recovery.

“I have nothing bad to say about the company, about Aspen crossing. I have nothing bad to say about the gentleman who accidentally did it. I just don’t want to see it happen to somebody else. That has to change.”