Katie Potts never expected her trip home from a camping trip last summer to end up waking up lying on the grass, confused, bleeding and scared. She had fallen asleep in the passenger seat as she and her boyfriend were heading to Maple Ridge, BC, on July 11, 2021, after camping near the 100 Mile House, about 400 miles away. Unbeknownst to her, her boyfriend had been dragged behind the wheel, driving off-road near Larson Hill on the Coquihalla motorway. Pots was thrown from the vehicle and seriously injured: her back was broken, she lost three toes and her leg was amputated. Despite extensive research in the area around the crash, Potts said her leg was never found. Because of the shock, he does not remember much of the incident, but he does remember the couple who stopped to help. Her boyfriend had taken her to the street, where she tried to get someone down for help. Some cars whistled until someone finally stopped. Potts believes the couple who left and the help they gave her saved her life, but so far she did not know who they were or how to thank them. After an interview with CBC Radio West last week about Potts wanting to find the people who helped her, her rescuers showed up.
“We have to take care of this girl”
Marilyn Thomas said she and her husband Jarrod, traveling from their home in Salmon Arm to Vancouver, were overturned when they saw smoke rising on the side of the highway. “It was horrible,” Thomas told CBC News. “You just say, ‘Okay, we have to take care of this girl, you know?’ There is someone in need right now. “You just do what you have to do.” They called 911 and used a hooded cord as a turnstile for Potts’ amputated leg. He tried to put pressure on him, just above the knee, but he quickly lost blood. The paramedics arrived in about 30 minutes and took over. Potts’ vehicle turned into scrap metal in the collision, and Thomas said that if Potts had not exploded, he probably would not have made it. “If they had not thrown her out of the vehicle, there is no way she would have been here.” The vehicle that Katie Potts was riding in when it crashed was scrapped. (Submitted by Katie Potts) After paramedics arrived to take care of Potts by the couple, Maple Ridge’s wife was airlifted to a hospital in the Lower Mainland. Thomas had no idea who Pots was or if he would be fine and said he was not sure he would ever know what happened to the young woman on the side of the road. “We are thinking about it and we have not forgotten it,” he said. Jarrod and Marilyn Thomas rushed to help after Katie Pott was seriously injured in an accident on the Kokihala Highway on July 11, 2021. (Submitted by Marilyn Thomas)
‘You are my guardian angel’
The couple reconnected by phone on CBC Radio West on Monday, but we hope to meet in person this summer. “I’m so, so grateful that I can finally hear her voice again,” Potts said. “I was able to close the 21 because you pulled. You are my guardian angel”. Thomas, who has three adult children of her own, said more people need to do what they did. “People need to stop rushing so much. And they need to start helping people in need.” Radio West16: 45 Katie Potts reunites with Marilyn Thomas, the woman who helped save her life after a horrific accident in Coquihalla a year ago Katie Pots reunites with Marilyn Thomas, the woman who helped save her life after a horrific accident in Coquihalla a year ago Thomas says she will always be associated with Potts. “I do not feel like a guardian angel, but I’m glad we were there for you that day because you’re here. I feel special to you and … we have a special bond,” he told Potts during an in – air interview with CBC. Katie Potts, right, and Debbie Herd’s mother in the hospital during Potts recovery after a serious car accident. (Submitted by Katie Potts) Potts is now waiting for another operation on her arm and then a prosthesis for the part of her arm that was cut. She already has a prosthesis for her leg and has learned again how to walk. She hopes to return to her job at Save-On-Foods soon. Her mother, Debbie Herd, said Potts remained positive during her recovery. “She is very resilient,” Herd said. Potts said she will never forget the kindness of two strangers who saved her life. “I am alive because of them,” he said. “They did such a great thing for me and I want them to know that I will never forget that.”
