Patient Meets Frontenac Paramedic Who Saved Her Life

Frontenac Paramedic Services | Jan 06, 2016

That November day in 2010 was just another day at work for Frontenac paramedic Veronique Trottier, doing the job she’d been wanting to do since high school. For Roksana Rak it wasn’t “just another day”.

Roksana was travelling east bound on Highway 401 near Gardiners Road in Kingston when she was involved in a single vehicle crash, and was ejected from the rear window of the car. Her brother Peter and mother Anna were also in the vehicle. Veronique was the first paramedic on the scene and upon arrival Roksana wasn’t breathing and had serious head and leg trauma.

Veronique immediately began resuscitating and managed to keep Roksana alive until fellow paramedics Kelly Crawford and Tania Pelletier arrived on the scene. Together they transferred their patient to Kingston General Hospital and once Roksana was admitted, the three continued with their day and finished their shifts.

During the weeks following the accident, Veronique checked up on Roksana, and while she was still in a coma in Intensive Care, there had been improvements. It wasn’t until three years later that Roksana reached out to management at Frontenac Paramedic Services (FPS) and asked to meet with Veronique, Tania and Kelly. They had dinner together and continue to stay in touch.

“My father stayed by the side of my bed for months when I was still in the hospital in Kingston,” said Roksana. “Later in my recovery he told me that Veronique came by and checked up on me and I decided I wanted to find out who saved my life,” Roksana said.

“That is so rare. I have received flowers from a patient before or sometimes a card, but Roksana is the only one who reached out to me like that,” said Veronique who has been with FPS for 13 years now. “At the end of the day we did our job and we didn’t do anything different than we normally would. We don’t expect to be thanked, but it is very nice.”

Frontenac Paramedic Services’ Veronique Trottier (left) had a visit from Roksana Rak in Kingston late November. It is the fifth anniversary of Roksana’s accident. On that day in 2010, Veronique was the first medical responder on the scene. Roksana’s parents Ivan and Anna are also in the picture.