A local Indigenous woman from the Gitanmaax First Nation is coming forward with her story of how she and her husband helped save an unconscious man suffering what she believed was an extreme case of heatstroke.
Draiciee Wilson and her husband were out on a drive just trying to beat the heat yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon when she saw what she initially assumed was a large clump of debris lying underneath the bridge over Massey Drive.
“Just as we were waiting at the stop signs for vehicles to go, there was about four or five vehicles that had passed so we turned and as soon as we turned we noticed something lying on the ground. Right away we couldn’t see that it was a human being but it was something large.”
She says her husband looked back and realized it was a man laying on the hot sidewalk in the fetal position under the bridge.
They immediately stopped the vehicle to run over and attend to the man, who they assumed was in his 50’s or 60’s.
“My husband started talking to the man and he was very faint in his responses. My husband looked up and me and told me to call 911. So I called 911 and it was so hot at this time, the temperature in my vehicle read 41,” explained Wilson.
At this time, she was extremely concerned that the man had underlying health conditions, as she knew that people with diabetes often have a hard time managing their blood sugar levels in extremely hot weather.
Wilson was on hold for nearly 7 minutes when she decided to make a post on the ‘Questions and Answers of P.G’ Facebook page asking residents for a direct number to the BC Ambulance Service.
One of the many respondents provided her with the RCMP’s non-emergency line, and she later found out that a bunch of respondents had even called the RCMP to the scene.
Around this time, Wilson and her husband recognized that the man wasn’t intoxicated or overdosing, as he didn’t smell of alcohol or show any signs of intoxication.
“When my husband jumped out of the vehicle he started talking to him quite loudly to him and his eyes didn’t open or anything so my husband touched him on the shoulder to move him and when he did that, he actually opened his eyes very faintly and said ‘I’m just trying to sleep’,” she explained, “but my husband said he could barely hear his voice.”
Wilson says they wanted to just put the man in their vehicle and drive him to the hospital themselves, but their vehicle was packed full and he wouldn’t have been able to fit.
After being on hold for a few minutes, two people stopped by to help out, one woman and another man, who was prepared with a Narcan Kit and asked the couple if he was overdosing.
The ambulance arrived about 11 minutes after the initial call was made to 911, and since the call was ended, the couple hasn’t heard anything else about what happened to the man they saved.
“They hung up and we made sure to stay with the gentleman until the ambulance got there but they picked him up and took him in. My husband stayed beside him the whole time even when the ambulance arrived,” she explained.
The man was then sent to the hospital, Wilson says that he was falling in and out of consciousness.
Now, Wilson says she learned a hard lesson from her experience with the man under the bridge.
“It was very sad and I was actually very emotional because so many people had driven by, but nobody stopped to help and nobody had even slowed down. It was really heartbreaking because I could only picture if that was somebody’s dad or uncle, we just don’t know the circumstances of why a person is laying there. It could’ve been a heart attack, a diabetic reaction, or anything, this person could’ve died.”
She says it is very important that people help others nowadays, and not only because of the extreme weather.
“With Canada in the situation that it is in right at this moment, rebuilding the nation is going to be built on kindness and understanding for one another. It doesn’t matter what walk of life you are, if you see anybody in a difficult situation then offer a helping hand and treat people as you want to be treated.”
For information on signs of heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses, visit the HealthLinkBC website.