Hatzolah Pair Saves the Day

VIN News

When Nicole Drapeau of Montreal slipped on a patch of ice two weeks ago and broke her ankle, she got more than just free medical treatment for her injury. She says she had her faith in mankind restored.

In a letter to The Montreal Gazette, Drapeau relates her ordeal on Nov. 16 2012, and tells how surprised she was when help came to her from an unlikely source with “a sense of community” – Hatzoloh.

“After about 10 minutes, a man with a hat and long beard – a Hasidic Jew – comes along and starts asking questions, and after about 30 seconds, takes his phone and starts to call for help,” Drapeau wrote.

“We tell him we have called an ambulance already, but he says it will take a minimum of 40 minutes. After about five to seven minutes, a van arrives with two other men of the same group… They took my vital signs, and put me into their van to keep warm.”

Drapeau says she wrote the letter because she wanted to express her gratitude to Hatzolah – a group she had never heard of – but felt that a monetary donation was not sufficient.

“I think that people should be acknowledged for their good deeds,” she said. “I want to make sure that Team W47N72 of the Hatzoloh D & W Division gets heartfelt thanks from an ever-grateful French-Canadian lady they found on a sidewalk in pain.”

An hour later, the ambulance finally responded to the scene.

Had it not been for the “charitable man” who called his friend at Hatzoloh, Drapeau says she would have spent those 60 minutes waiting on a freezing sidewalk for help to arrive.