CHILLIWACK — Several Chilliwack RCMP officers will be nominated for life-saving awards after rescuing a woman whose vehicle had overturned in a rural ditch. The crowning touch is they also rescued a “guardian angel” ornament that now sits on the woman’s Christmas tree.
Const. Tracy Wolbeck said Thursday that the driver, 18, made a 911 call on her cellphone Wednesday morning saying that her four-door 2005 Hyundai had skidded off the road in snow-and-ice conditions and overturned into a ditch on Gibson Road.
As the woman, who was alone, stayed on line with the operator, she said her vehicle was quickly filling with water — and then the line went dead.
When several Mounties arrived on the scene, the front of the car was almost completely submerged
Acting quickly, some of the officers entered the water to help lift the car up enough to expose the back window, while another officer repeatedly punched the window before breaking it.
“He was able to gain entry to the vehicle and pull the woman to safety, with the officer and the victim swimming to the surface of the ditch,” Wolbeck said.
The victim was transferred to a waiting ambulance and treated for early stages of hypothermia at Chilliwack General Hospital.
The officer who punched out the window suffered a bad sprain and required several stitches.
