A West Vancouver retiree and two contractors have received commendations from the West Vancouver Police Department’s chief constable for their role in saving the life of a badly injured woman.
Yuan Wang was working in his garden on May 6, 2015, when a woman driving a minivan down his steep Piccadilly South driveway lost control. She hit a retaining wall and the van rolled onto its side, pinning her arm underneath.
“There was a big banging, several times, and crying,” Wang said. “I rushed over there. Then I saw her car was there on a 90-degree angle on the driver’s side. It just skidded down there… I saw the blood running over the stones. I didn’t know what to do.”
Father and son contracting team Michael and Charles Frass, who were working next door, heard the commotion and hopped the fence. The three tried to muscle the minivan up onto its wheels on their own but had no luck.
“Remember seeing in the movies that in extreme circumstances, you get super-human strength and you can lift it? It doesn’t work,” Charles said.
Thankfully, Wang happened to be keeping a forklift in his garage at the time. He used it to lift the van up off the woman’s arm and then cut the seatbelt with a pair of scissors.
Michael and Charles pulled the woman out.
“Michael got under the lady. She was shocked. We were trying to get her name to talk to her and make sure she didn’t pass out. She was conscious but really incoherent because of the shock,” Charles said.
He then rigged a tourniquet to stop the flow of blood.
They called 9-1-1 and firefighters and an ambulance were soon on the scene but West Vancouver Const. Jeff Palmer said the amateur heroes likely saved the day.
“She suffered a really quite critical injury of the arm. She could have bled out in not a very long time,” he said.
Michael said the official commendation was nice to receive, but he really was happy just to be in a position to help.
“I didn’t expect it at all. It’s just something you do and you’re thankful you could help someone. It’s not that you think you’ll get an award,” Michael said. “It just shows that everyone can do something to help someone in need.”
The group received their commendations at the West Vancouver police board meeting on Thursday afternoon.
Several West Vancouver constables received police commendations last month for their heroic actions in several incidents: Rescuing a mother and children from a vehicle flipped over a steep embankment, a nick-of-time seizing of a distraught person who was attempting to jump from the Lions Gate Bridge and tackling a man who had doused himself in gasoline and was attempting to light himself on fire.
