Kate Potts knows she’s lucky to be alive. And, earlier this week, she finally managed to contact the couple who saved her life. Maple Ridge’s wife, who also lived in Vernon for a few years, had a horrific car accident in 2021. And had it not been for Marylin and Jarrod Thomas, the Potts would probably have died on the side of the Coquihalla Highway that fateful day. “They saved my life and this is something I will never forget,” Pots said. “It’s a blessing in disguise for me and my family. They are angels who walk on this earth. “ Pots did not know who her rescuers were and launched a social media campaign to find them. He finally found the Salmon Arm couple and expressed how grateful they were for everything they had done. Marylin and Kate have been texting ever since, and Potts plans to meet the couple. It was on July 11, 2021 that Potts’s life changed. She and her boyfriend had a horrific crash that left her with a broken back, her right leg amputated below the knee and part of her right arm lost. “I was really thrown out of the car,” he said. “I was lying on the grass when I woke up and saw my right leg amputated on stage.” Between the leg and arm injuries, the blood loss was severe. Many vehicles passed before the Thomases stopped to offer their rescue. “They actually passed us, hit the brakes and came back,” Pots said. She lost consciousness from the blood loss and Jarrod used the cord from his hood to tie a pike around Pots’s leg. Her boyfriend did the same for her hand. Marilyn had some first aid and did everything she could to help Potts. It took about 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive and an ambulance was called to rush Potts to the hospital. She did not know that her back was broken until she felt terrible pain when the paramedics slipped a board under her. “My vertebrae exploded. It was 10 to 14 hours (surgery) for me to work on my back “. She now has a prosthetic leg and has scheduled another surgery on her arm. Last year was an emotional train for Potts, who recently turned 21. “The days I sit here and I don’t feel the best about my body or myself, I sit back and say, ‘Obviously I’m here for a reason, so I’ll live my life as best I can for Marilyn and Jarrod because “They are the ones who helped me,” he said. “It was a great blessing to hear from Marilyn. She did not have to reach out but saw that I was looking for her and wrote to me. It’s a very moving feeling. “
