Jayme Erickson shared the story on her Facebook page that is every parent’s – and paramedics’ – worst nightmare. On Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m., she wrote, she was dispatched with her partner to a motor vehicle collision west of Airdrie where there were two injured patients, including the passenger in one vehicle who was trapped and seriously injured. Erickson wrote that she did what she could to help the critically injured passenger while fire crews worked to extricate the passenger from the vehicle. The passenger was eventually removed from the vehicle and transported to Foothills Medical Clinic by a STARS ambulance. “My shift ended and I went home,” Erickson wrote. A moment later, there was a knock on her door. “The RCMP were at my door to let me know my daughter had an accident,” she wrote. That’s when it hit her. “The severely injured patient I had just attended to was my own flesh and blood,” he wrote. “My only child. My little one. My daughter, Montana. Her injuries were so horrific I didn’t even recognize her.” Erickson wrote that she was taken by officers to Foothills, where she was told Montana’s injuries were “not life-threatening.” “We are overwhelmed with grief and absolutely devastated,” he said. “The pain I feel is like no pain I have ever felt, it is indescribable. “My worst nightmare as a paramedic came true.” Erickson said that Saturday, she said goodbye to her daughter. “I can’t help but be angry at the short time I was given with her,” she wrote. “17 years was not enough. Although I am grateful for the 17 years I had with her, “I’m devastated and wondering. What would I become my little girl?” he said. “Who would you be? I will never see you graduate and walk down the stage, I will never see you get married, I will never know who you would be. I love you more than anything in this world (yes, including goats my girl!). “I will cherish the memories we made and the time we spent together,” she said. “I’m devastated. I’m broken. A piece of me is missing. I’m left to pick up the pieces and I’m expected to carry on.” A family representative agreed to share the story with CTV News. In her final words, Erickson offered this reflection. “Love with all your heart,” he said. “Hold them close. Make memories. ‘If you’re going to love someone, hold on as long as you can and as hard as you can… until you can’t.’ An official go fund me page will be set up and published tomorrow to help the family.
