A Kamloops woman says she is grateful for the heroism shown by a man who helped her escape her vehicle after it slid down an embankment into the icy North Thompson River.
Tracy Smith said she is feeling fine after the Boxing Day incident — albeit a little shaken up — and thankful someone was there to help after her car lost control on a slippery section of Schubert Drive.
“For someone to come out and help like that, it just shows you back to the compassion that we all should have in our community for each other,” Smith said.
Smith said she was driving southbound on Schubert, heading home after doing some shopping.
She was passing Arthur Hatton Elementary School when she said she felt the rear end of her car swing sideways.
Smith said she swerved to try and correct the car’s trajectory towards a nearby parked truck, “and it just started doing rotations.”
“I knew about the third rotation we were headed for the water,” Smith said, adding she managed to get the car’s window down for a better chance of escape if the car became submerged.
“I braced myself, and it went over the bank. I could feel the car just going down really fast, and then it stopped really quickly and the airbags went out.”
Once the car came to a stop, Smith said she tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge.
She said at that point, she “started to panic a little bit,” smelling the airbags and wondering if the car might set on fire or go under the ice.
“The door wouldn’t open, and all of my stuff was strewn everywhere. I couldn’t find my purse. My phone was in my purse, but I couldn’t find anything. So I just stuck my head out the window and looked up, and Tyler was standing at the top,” Smith said.
“I guess he witnessed the whole thing, he saw me lose control and go right over. So he got out of his vehicle and he called 911 right away.”
Smith said she was “just elated” to see that someone was there.
“I thought, you know, no matter what happens, somebody’s there, not that I thought anybody would jump into action the way he did.”
Smith said the man, who later introduced himself as Tyler Mundreon, asked if she was alright.
When Smith said she needed help getting out of the car, he immediately scrambled down the bank.
“I crawled out as far as I could, he picked me up. …I didn’t get wet at all, and he turned around and shut my car off. And he said ‘OK, we’re going to head back up, if you’re OK,’” Smith said.
“I got about halfway and I just gave up. I couldn’t feel my hands. And he said, ‘Put your foot on that tree there,’ and grabbed my hand.”
After reaching safety, Smith and Mundreon sat in his truck and waited for first responders to arrive.
She said she has been in touch with Mundreon over social media in the day following the incident, thanking him again for putting a stranger’s safety ahead of his own.
“That’s heroic behaviour,” Smith said.
