After nearly two decades apart, a young woman has been reunited with the Edmonton police officer whose actions saved her life as a child.
Until recently, the only memories Kaitlyn Mason, 20, had of Inspector Ed McIsaac were a newspaper clipping and a teddy bear – to mark the day McIsaac answered her parents’ desperate calls for help in a parking lot.
“I thought it would be a good time to finally meet him in person, and thank him for all that he did that day,” Mason said.
Back in the summer of 1996, Mason’s father, Don said the family – his wife Leah and then nearly two-year-old daughter Kaitlyn – were at a grocery store when Don said an alleged shoplifter fled from the business.
“There was a shoplifter, and some guy ran out of the store and staff chased after him, we thought it would be a good idea to maybe follow him in our car,” Don said.
The family made it about a block before they noticed Kaitlyn had started choking in the back seat – they stopped the car in a parking lot in the area of 118 Avenue and 82 Street.
“I had first aid training, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you, especially when it’s your own child,” Leah Mason said.
McIsaac, then Constable McIsaac with ten years with the EPS under his belt, was responding to a call nearby, when he heard the family’s cries for help.
“She was blue, her lips were blue, her eyes were rolling back and she wasn’t breathing,” McIsaac said.
Don Mason said McIsaac stepped in to help, and wouldn’t give up.
“I was doing light compressions and she coughed something up,” McIsaac said. “And there was a quarter.”
Kaitlyn made a full recovery – and says she’s thought about McIsaac over the years, feelings the officer echoes.
The two said they will stay in touch.
“It’s a highlight of my career for sure,” McIsaac said. “Being able to meet up with Kaitlyn and the family again was an unbelievable experience.”
With files from Ashley Molnar
