Vernon woman hopes acts of kindness are catching after RCMP acknowledgment

Tamsen Vanbeest was acknowledged by Vernon Mounties this week for an act of kindness and she’s hoping her good deed leads to another.

She was driving through Vernon on Feb. 1 when she saw an elderly woman, laying on the sidewalk after having slipped on the ice.

The woman’s husband was with her and when Vanbeest stopped, they together tried to get her off the ground, which was very slippery, to no avail.

“She couldn’t stand on her own so I went and pulled my car up and we slowly moved her to sit half into my car then tried to recline my seat so we could get her in my car to be warm,” she said.

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“There we found out she couldn’t turn her body to get her in my car so we left her just sitting half-in and I wrapped her in a blanket as it was very cold,” she said.

The ambulance was going to be an hour and a half to two hours, Vanbeest learned and when the police arrived, they tried to help her get the woman in the car  one more time so she could be driven to the hospital.

The woman, however, was in too much pain and the move wasn’t possible.

“I just stayed with her and kept talking to her to make sure she would stay awake and made sure she was warm. After an hour and 45 minutes the ambulance showed up with only one paramedic so the police and I helped to get her into the stretcher,” Vanbeest said.

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Vanbeest works with elderly people and said she’s always willing to help but she’s also hopeful that others can do the same.

So do the RCMP.

“After learning medical help would be delayed, she cancelled a personal appointment and remained with the injured woman and continued to comfort and care for her until medical help arrived,” Vernon North Okanagan RCMP said in a press release.

“We want to commend her for her compassion and willingness to go above and beyond to assist another person in need.”