Snowplow operator comes to the rescue after Norboro woman injured in fall

A woman in Norboro, P.E.I., says she's incredibly grateful after a snowplow operator helped rescue her when she had a bad fall on her icy driveway.

Kim Taylor said she was taking out the garbage last Thursday, trying to carefully navigate the icy patches that had formed along the driveway. But she slipped and fell to the ground and said she quickly realized she had broken her ankle.

"Down I went and it was very painful," Taylor said. "My ankle was swelling in my boot."

Taylor said she tried to stand but was in too much pain, so she started crawling to try to get back to the house. A number of cars drove by and she called out for help, but Taylor said no one stopped. 

"Why can't people see me laying there, I'm hurt," she said. "Can they not see me crawling or just laying there saying, 'Help, I'm in pain.' They just drove right on by." 

That's when Taylor noticed a snowplow pulling off to the side of the road at the end of her driveway.

She said she thought the driver was pulling over to let traffic pass, but felt a wave of relief when she saw him open his door and jump down from the plow.

"He got out of the truck and he come over and he said, 'Do you need help?'" she said.

She said she did and told him she'd broken her ankle

'Willing to help in any way' 

Gary Bertram, the driver of the plow, said as soon as he saw Taylor on the ground he knew she was in trouble. 

"I figured she must have gotten hurt or something," Bertram said. 

He said he watched as cars passed her, not stopping to see if she was OK, and knew he had to pull over. 

"I couldn't believe it myself, you know, all the traffic that went by and not a soul stopped," he said, noting that it was cold.

He asked what he could do to help her and Taylor told him her husband was working in the barn and not in the house. But her brother-in-law was home at his house next door, so Bertram ran there to get help.

Taylor said Bertram then helped her family get her off the ground and into her husband's truck so she could be taken to hospital. 

"He was just awesome, he was very polite and friendly and just willing to help in any way he can to get what I needed," Taylor said. 

Recovering in hospital

Taylor said she's had surgery on her ankle and is now recovering in the hospital. Her daughter, Jennifer Taylor, said the whole family is incredibly grateful Bertram was in the right place at the right time. 

"It's very reassuring to know that there are still people out there that aren't in such a big rush to get where they need to go and that they take the time to care about others," she said. 

Taylor said she wants to thank Bertram from the bottom of her heart. "I just want to say thank you so much, so much. You don't know what it meant to me."

For Bertram, he said he's just glad he was able to help. "I'm just glad she's OK," he said.

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