A Calgary senior is recovering after a medical emergency last week, and she says she owes it to the quick response of two strangers and her five-year-old grandson.
Beyka Cohen and her grandson, Alec, were walking near her home in northwest Calgary when she tripped over her cane, hitting the ground face-first.
“I saw my grandma fell,” said Alec.
Cohen was knocked unconscious and had blood all over her face.
“I felt the impact with the cement, and the next thing I know, he’s shaking me. ‘Wake up, Tata, open your eyes, Tata,’” said Cohen, who explained that “Tata” is what her grandkids often call her.
The boy then went into his grandma’s purse and took out her phone.
“I go through her numbers and then I pressed ‘Dad’ and then I called him,” said Alec, explaining that he knew his dad’s photo was connected to the phone number.
‘There’s still nice people out there’
While he was on the phone with his dad, two other people rushed over to help, including a city bus driver who saw her fall.
“And the gentleman came out of the bus and they sat me up because I couldn’t get up off the pavement,” said Cohen.
Parm Sangha has been a bus driver with the City of Calgary for six years and says, as a public service worker, he is always prepared to provide assistance.
“We sat her up, moved her to the grass, asked her a few questions, if she was OK and if there was something we could do to assist her,” said Sangha.
Cohen ended up with bumps and bruises on her face plus a broken wrist and knee.
She and her family are glad for the chance to thank the bus driver in-person and want to do the same for her other helper, a woman who said her name was Rebecca and who called 911.
“Thanks for the community. Thanks to people who stopped to help out,” said her son and Alec’s dad, Taric.
“There’s still nice people out there looking after somebody else,” said Beyka.
‘Very proud of him’
Alec also helped in the ambulance, holding grandma’s hand and comforting her.
“I was impressed with him. Very proud of him, of course,” Tariq said, adding the paramedics commended the little boy for staying calm and helping his grandma.
“To know that they were together he could be there for her and she didn’t have to worry about him, and I knew he was gonna love the ambulance ride.”
Alec said he did get a stuffed toy from the paramedics and the chance to push some buttons in the ambulance.
“I got to turn on the lights, but not the siren,” Alec said.
Cohen says she is glad she talked with Alec about emergencies before so that he knew how to use her phone, even her entry code.
“One time she told me and I still remember it,” said Alec.
“I let him because I never knew when he needed it and he did. He’s a smart kid,” she said.
The family says it’s a good reminder for everyone to review what to do in an emergency, so hopefully they can have happy endings like this one.
Most smartphones also allow calls to 911 without knowing the entry code by pressing the emergency button first.
The Cohens are still hoping to thank the woman named Rebecca.
If you are her or know her, please contact CTV News.
