Officials gathered at City Hall yesterday to celebrate one of PG’s littlest heroes.
After plugging in a lullaby CD for five-year-old Lexi and newborn Peter, Angela Shymanski felt herself drifting off behind the wheel while driving back to Prince George from Alberta this summer.
While she planned to pull of in Jasper for a break, the car went over an embankment roughly 15 km outside the town.
Angela was immediately knocked unconscious, though Lexi tried to wake her up.
What happened next likely saved their lives.
“Lexi undid her five-point safety harness, kicked her way out of our vehicle, and climbed 40-feet up to the highway to flag down help on the side of the Highway.”
Emergency crews were able to reach Angela and Peter, though both would spend time in hospital afterwards.
She suffered a broken back, and Peter had neurosurgery to repair brain swelling.
“It still blows my mind because it’s really unreal what she did,” says Angela. “Grown men- the firemen, the medics that day, they needed ropes to get up and down to our vehicle, and she did it all barefoot.”
Since then, you may have seen Lexi’s lemonade stand pop up, with proceeds going to the paediatric ward at UHNBC.
The community has certainly taken notice.
“A Nurse who was there when Lexi was born set up a GoFundMe, and donations poured in from that. We had meals, clothes for the kids, just help from people cleaning the house, taking care of the kids… It’s been incredible as we all recover from this crazy car accident.”
On November 2nd, Lexi was awarded the Medal of Bravery by the Governor General in Edmonton.
Her courage was celebrated at City Hall yesterday, where she received a Mr. PG doll, and letters from Mayor Hall, Premier Clark, MLA Bond, and MP Doherty.