Three British Columbians are delighted to be reunited almost a year after tragic circumstances first came together.
Last summer when Katie Potts was seriously injured in a horrific accident on Coquihalla Highway, a salmon arm, B.C. couple stopped to help.
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Back then, the rescuers did not know Potts’ name and were left wondering whether she had survived.
However, in June, almost a year after the collision that nearly took her life, Potts was able to find the couple she believes saved her.
It all started on the morning of July 11, 2021, when Potts and her boyfriend were returning home from a camping trip. His vehicle veered off the road near Larsen Hill and Potts and his seat were ejected from the vehicle.
“My boyfriend fell asleep behind the wheel and from what I remember I was asleep too and then I woke up and I was in the grass,” Potts said during an interview from her home in Maple Ridge.
“It was a really scary feeling. I looked down. I saw my leg was amputated at the scene. My hand felt very wet as if it was a puddle or something and I lost three fingers.”
It was only later that Potts would learn that he too had injured his back.
“It was really scary, the doctor told my dad that he wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to walk again because of my back injury. I was three millimeters away from being paralyzed,” she said.
Potts said her boyfriend picked her up and took her to the highway.
“We were waving cars trying to get the best of people’s attention and there were probably about five to seven cars that passed us that didn’t even take a look or anything, until Marilyn and Jarrod only stopped,” recalled Pot.
Marilyn and Jarrod Thomas were on their way to Vancouver to see their daughter that morning when they saw smoke near the highway.
“A young fellow was waving his arms so we pulled over. I didn’t even know there was another person there until he threw her in the back seat of my car,” Jarrod Thomas said.
Feeling faint, as if she was dying, Potts said she called her boyfriend.
“As soon as I said Jarrod, ‘I feel like I’m going to die!’ She ripped off her hoodie string and then tied my leg, and then my boyfriend grabbed her hoodie string and tied my hand to stop all the bleeding,” Potts said.
Marilyn Thomas said that he tried to wet the young woman’s lips to make sure she was not dehydrated.
“You just go to work and you just say, ‘Okay, now we have to take care of her and do whatever we can,'” Marilyn Thomas said.
When first responders arrived, Potts was taken to medical care and Marilyn and Jarrod Thomas were left to worry about what happened to the seriously injured young woman, whose name they did not know.
They were wondering if he had made it.
“We tried to find out about this accident on the highway and we couldn’t find anything,” Marilyn Thomas said.
Potts was also thinking of the couple who had stopped for help.
“I wouldn’t be here today if they didn’t stop because [of] The moment the ambulance came and when I told everyone, ‘I feel like I’m going to die!’…. They would not be there on time because I would have lost too much blood,” Potts said.
In June, nearly a year after the accident, Potts was able to find the pair she credits with saving her life. viral social media post by a family friend.
“She made a huge post and it went viral. I didn’t expect it, but I am very grateful to everyone who did it for me because it helped me a lot to know who and what I am living for. It’s for them,” Potts said.
They have spoken on the phone and Potts is expected to meet the couple later this summer.
“As soon as I heard her voice, I just burst into tears,” Potts said of talking with Marilyn Thomas.
Rescuers were equally happy to learn that Potts had survived and is recovering.
“She’s so brave and just so resilient. She’s just an amazing young lady,” said Marilyn Thomas.
“We’re no guardian angels. We’re no heroes. We’re just regular people who have done everything any regular people should do and that’s stopping and helping.”
Despite her doctor’s concerns, Potts is running again and she hopes to swim with her niece after getting her first prosthetic water leg.
“If it weren’t for Marilyn and Jarrod, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy these little things. Every morning I just wake up and I say thank you to them,” Potts said.
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