Dear editor
On June 7, 2020, my son Taylor, daughter-in-law Janna, grandson Liam and their dog Zoe were in an accident westbound just passed the B.C. border, by Yellowhead Lake.
Passersby helped them until Valemount emergency crews responded and got them into Jasper Hospital. I drove out from Edmonton to pick them up.
My son had to be airlifted to Edmonton U of A hospital for a CT scan - he was all right and released. My daughter-in-law, although shaken up, was ok - as was my grandson. Zoe however ran from the accident scene and is still missing.
As I reached the east gate of Jasper National Park, I explained to the park officer what had happened and she was very friendly and ushered me through.
When I got to the hospital I went to the main entrance and was met by extremely friendly staff, directing me to the emergency entrance. Here I was met again by friendly and professional staff.
They treated my family extremely well, letting them stay together until I arrived and calling in help from their own family members to search for Zoe. These nurses and doctors are an example of how our medical staff and facilities should be run.
We left the hospital and traveled to the accident location to search for Zoe, we walked and called out to her.
As we drove, we came upon a young lady and her dog, we asked here if she had seen Zoe, and she鈥檇 told us that she was also out looking, as well as others from Jasper were out looking for Zoe. Indeed, we met a couple and their kids searching also.
We could not stay any longer as we had to get back to Edmonton, and as we drove back to Jasper we stopped at the west park gate and talked to the officer there, again very friendly and helpful as well an RCMP officer along the road.
We came into Jasper to meet up with Janna鈥檚 brother, who came out to continue the search. We met him, at Jasper Pizza, where the staff was very friendly (pizza was great also).
I guess, where I鈥檓 going with this email, is to thank the folks in Jasper for taking an extremely stressful day for my family and making it a lot less stressful, with their kindness and thoughtfulness.
Thank you to a very friendly community, from a very grateful Grandad,
Kelly Faris
Edmonton, AB
