Skip to content

Man honoured for saving woman from exploding car

Seeing his son thrown out of his hockey game was initially a point of irritation for Bonnyville’s Jacob Faithful, but when it led to him being in St.
A round dance was held on Nov. 25 in honour of Jacob Faithful, for his role in helping 76-year-old Nancy Waskewitch, after her car caught fire along Highway 29.
A round dance was held on Nov. 25 in honour of Jacob Faithful, for his role in helping 76-year-old Nancy Waskewitch, after her car caught fire along Highway 29.

Seeing his son thrown out of his hockey game was initially a point of irritation for Bonnyville’s Jacob Faithful, but when it led to him being in St. Paul at the right moment to help a 77-year-old woman away from a burning car, he began to feel it was no coincidence.

“I feel a great sense of humility and I’m so thankful that I was there at that time because somebody could have lost a kôhkom . . . somebody could have lost a mom, if me and my son weren’t there,” he said.

Faithful, who originally hails from Frog Lake, was in Elk Point to cheer on his son during hockey game on Sunday evening, when his son got kicked off the game in the first period for body checking, which was deemed a head shot.

“I was ticked off at the ref and my son,” he said, adding, “What a way to wreck the Sunday – I thought I was going to get to watch a good game.”

Faithful decided to head to Goodfish Lake to pick up his other 18-year-old son, on his way home to Bonnyville. After a stop in St. Paul to grab food, he was heading west on Highway 29 just outside of St. Paul when he noticed a vehicle pulled off to the side of the road with its hazard lights on. As Faithful passed by, he said he saw “an old lady, waving from her car, waving frantically.”

He turned to ask his son if he had seen the woman.

“In my mind, I was thinking about one time, in the summer, I had driven past an old lady waving her arm frantically - And I didn’t stop,” he said, adding he had felt guilty about the decision not to stop for that lady for a long time afterwards. “I’m like, ‘No, I’m not going to drive by this old lady. I’m not going to keep driving.’”

Faithful pulled over and waited to make a U-turn, waiting as a police car sped by with its lights flashing, before whipping around and parking behind the stranded car.

“I ran out of my truck, and I ran to the passenger door. I asked the lady, ‘What’s wrong?’ She said, ‘My car’s on fire.’”

That was when Faithful noticed the flames coming out of the car’s glove compartment and from below her dashboard. The woman still seemed concerned about putting out the flames, not realizing she was in danger, she thought she and Faithful could put the fire out together. Instead, Faithful grabbed her arm and pulled her towards his vehicle. He grabbed his and his son’s drinks and ran back, but the fire erupted.

“When I opened the door, the whole inside of the car was fricking burning,” he said, adding with a wry chuckle, “And I tried to put it out with pop.”

He ran back to his truck and saw the woman was still struggling to move along and get inside the vehicle.

“I just grabbed her arm, and basically rag-dolled her into the truck. I threw it in drive and slammed forward; we were literally, thirty feet or so in front of her car, we were driving away and I looked through the rearview mirror and saw the big explosion,” said Faithful, recalling the hood of the woman’s car and doors were blown right out. His son exclaimed, “Holy crap – Dad, it exploded!”

His passenger, 76-year-old Nancy Waskewitch, also was surprised to see the explosion, saying afterwards, “I didn’t even realize I was in danger . . . I wasn’t scared, but I could see the fear in their eyes, him and his son.”

A stunned Faithful called 911 and checked on Waskewitch, getting her a bag to put her black pinky finger inside, even though she seemed unconcerned about it. Traffic continued to drive alongside the highway, and with the car continuing to pop with smaller explosions, Faithful ran out to wave aside traffic and stop them from coming past it.

As emergency vehicles arrived on scene, Faithful’s son watched as Waskewitch’s sons came to pick their mother up from the scene.

“When I was talking to the officer on the scene, they were hugging her and crying, telling her they were happy she was safe,” he said. “My son was like, ‘I’ve never went through anything like that, and it makes me - I’m so happy we were able to save her. I didn’t think much of it, until I (saw) her sons hugging her.’”

“That’s when I felt the full force of being grateful and being thankful that we were there at the time,” Faithful said, adding he hated to think of what might have happened to Waskewitch, with her mobility issues, if no one had stopped for her.

“We were there for a reason. I believe the Creator didn’t want Nancy to leave at that time. Her work here wasn’t done.”

While Waskewitch said she had no fear for herself, her children felt the fear for their mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, particularly after seeing videos of the event on social media.

Her youngest daughter held back her tears, thinking of what might have happened to her mom, at a round dance held on Friday evening in Saddle Lake, where the family gave gifts of appreciation and an eagle feather to Faithful.

“She’s our rock. She holds our family together,” said an emotional Adeline Large. “You know, she’s 76-years-old and she wasn’t ready to go yet, and I’m so happy he was there for her, because a lot of people drove by her, she said, and no one stopped, but he stopped.”

Faithful said in retrospect, he was disappointed to see so many vehicles passing by that didn’t stop for Waskewitch.

“Afterwards I was like what the hell’s going on. I was really disappointed,” he said. However, he remembered that he too had been one of those people, when he drove by the lady in need on Goodfish Lake that summer day, without stopping to help.

“I regret that to this day – I could have helped,” he said. “I told myself I would never drive by again when somebody needs help . . . We all live such a rushed life. Sometimes it’s good to take your foot off the gas pedal and notice what’s around you. You’d be surprised at how much people need help, how they’re holding their hands out for you to help.”

“You could be that difference maker in someone else’s life if you stop to take the time.”

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks