Dear Editor,
Like many Langley residents, I have raised an eyebrow when local council officials say we need more first responders, but on Saturday night my cynicism was replaced by awe and gratitude.
My husband and I, and our two young granddaughters were travelling from Langley east on Fraser Highway just after 9 p.m. We could see the flashing lights ahead, and we were stopped by a fireman who told us that the RCMP had closed the road. There was an accident ahead just before 232nd Street.
This officer, standing in the pouring rain, was polite and courteous and obviously aware of the seriousness of this accident. There were fire trucks, ambulances, police all doing their duty on this cold, dark night.
Many will say “they” were just doing their jobs, but we tend to forget that they are human beings with feelings and loved ones.
What must it be like as a police officer to knock on a door and tell parents their 17-year-old son has been killed in a road accident. Or the firemen who have to extricate accident victims together with the ambulance paramedics who see death up close and personal, and not to forget the tow truck operators who remove tangled wrecks.
And this was a fatal accident was on the first Saturday of the New Year.
So the next time you hear sirens, move over and thank our first responders, each and every one of them.
Pamela G. Omelaniec, Otter
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• READ MORE: Two dead, one critically injured in intersection crash
• READ MORE: Township adding 44 new firefighters over next four years
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