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Ottawa woman searching for Good Samaritan after car crash

Ottawa woman searching for Good Samaritan after car crash

Amanda Chartrand was driving to her home in Ottawa after spending the day at her father's ranch in Kemptville, Ont.

A thunderstorm was rolling in shortly before midnight on Aug. 11 as she drove north toward Ottawa.

Near Roger Stevens Drive and the 416 she felt her tires hit the rough shoulder of the road, then she jerked the wheel to steer back onto the road.

The car overcorrected.

"[I] flipped sideways three to four times, from what I was told, then skidded 50 to 100 feet," Chartrand said.

Her forest green Jeep plunged over the side of a rocky ravine. She said she can only remember one feeling before blacking out: weightlessness.

She woke up "screaming and crying" in the ambulance, then things went black again.

One reason she survived

Chartrand's next memory came from the hospital.

"My elbow was shattered and then a part below the bone went through my skin," she said. "I lost a lot of blood."

A police officer entered her room and told her what happened in the time between her crash and the hospital.

Someone had seen her headlights down the slope and pulled over.

The officer said the woman had called 911 and tried to staunch the flow of blood from her right elbow.

"Because I had lost so much blood, if she hadn't found me when she did I wouldn't be here."

When paramedics and police arrived, the woman left, she said.

In the weeks since the accident, Chartrand said she can't stop thinking about her Good Samaritan.

'It's because of her that I get to go home'

On Thursday, she posted on Facebook searching for the woman from that night in August.

Hundreds of people have since joined in her quest.

"I just want to thank her. It's because of her that I get to go home and live the rest of my life with my family. I'm really grateful there's still good people and she should be recognized for that," Chartrand said.

"Most people when they do something they want something back or hope to receive something, but she was so humble and left and didn't say anything."

Bedridden for weeks and with the threat of losing her arm, Chartrand said she's come a long way from the accident. Doctors have told her she will regain almost full mobility.

Now on the mend, she's preoccupied with finding her rescuer.

"I just really want to find her and make her aware of what she did."