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Good Samaritan nets Canucks tickets

Woman was instrumental in calming a child involved in a serious accident
29406surreyCRAIG-Maureen
Maureen Craig assisted a young girl involved in an accident last week. She was given Canucks tickets for her effort.

It was the unmistakable sound of metal hitting concrete that got Maureen Craig's attention last week.

Last Thursday, Craig was heading eastbound on 104 Avenue near 148 Street when the accident happened.

She says it was a "Matrix moment" where everything just went into slow motion.

"We see this (Chevy) Blazer hitting the curb, catching air and going head on into another car," Craig said in an interview with The Leader Tuesday. "Once the impact happened, it was all back to real time."

She ran to the car and got the woman out, while her ex-husband headed to the Blazer to help the other woman.

Craig noticed a child in the back seat of the Blazer with a head injury.

"Okay honey, you've got to stay in the car, you can't move," Craig said. The girl responded by saying "I want to see my mommy, I want to see my mommy."

The eight year old climbed out of the car, and Craig got her lying down on the sidewalk and covered her with blankets.

Craig, who just got her first aid ticket from the U.S. Navy, sat and talked with the little girl and rode with her to the hospital.

RCMP Victims Services say Craig was instrumental in keeping the girl calm.

A day later, a couple arrived in Vancouver to got to Game-two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Boston Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks.

Tragically, they had to attend to a death in the family instead of going to the game.

The couple went to their hotel and asked if they knew of someone worthy of receiving the tickets.

The hotel contacted the media, which called the Surrey RCMP.

Victims Services called Craig at home early Saturday morning.

She was staying at her ex-husbands, who had been consoling her through the trauma of seeing the accident.

She climbed to the top of the stairs and said, "Playoff game... we're... going."

She repeated it several times before it sunk in.

Craig said the game served as great distraction after seeing a girl her daughter's age in a terrible accident.

"It helped for the night, but it was very mentally taxing, because I have a seven-year-old daughter," Craig said. "And this little girl just turned eight on May 24."

The girl is expected to make a full recovery.

@diakiw