Dear editor:
On July 4, I was following my husband on my motorcycle. We were riding on Hwy 1A at 8:30 a.m. when a large buck ran into the side of my motorcycle, knocking it down.
That was the beginning of the luckiest and unluckiest day of our lives.
I slid about 200 feet down the road before ending up in the ditch, obscured by trees and brush from the road.
To complicate matters, when my husband Joe realized that I wasn’t behind him, he turned around to look for me. The ditch was deep and almost impossible to see me from the road.
By this time he was in a panic, realizing the dire consequences of running off the 1A on a motorcycle.
By the time I was able to get to the edge of the road, a wonderful woman, Teresa Marshall, stopped and helped me, sitting me in her car. At the same time, Joe had flagged down a man on a motorcycle, MacKenzie McKay, who helped Joe look for me.
Upon arriving at the scene, MacKenzie pretty much took control of the situation, telling Joe to get me to the hospital and promising to take care of the motorcycle. They exchanged phone numbers and Teresa took us to the hospital.
We spent a good part of Saturday in the emergency room at Canmore Hospital with a competent and caring staff. (Thank you Glynis and the others whose names I can’t recall including the kind ER doctor). Upon my discharge, the ER staff offered transportation by them or family members if we needed it. Everyone was wonderful.
In the meantime, MacKenzie and his father, Allen, had taken care of the motorcycle, bringing it back to Steve and Sandy Repic’s home, whom we’d had the pleasure of meeting earlier in the week.
Little did they know that we would be staying at their house for the next several days.
After they found out what happened, they graciously opened their home and hearts to us, providing not only a place to stay, but transportation to and from Cochrane to take care of business.
We would also like to thank Scott, the owner at Mountain Toys Polaris Dealership, who came out and picked up the motorcycle after business hours and crated it up for transport back to the U.S. He refused any compensation for his time and effort.
Independence Day has taken on a new meaning for us. It will always be remembered by the blessings we received from strangers that day.
Guardian angels reside in Alberta, hiding in the hearts of those people who assisted us. There is no way to properly express our gratitude. Thank you, Canada!
Deborah Bengel, Silver City, N.M.
