Calgary woman looking for her 'angel Natalie' who saved her life
A Calgary woman who recently had a health scare is looking to make contact with a woman in her neighbourhood who helped get her to hospital.
Natalie Kwadrans, who was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer in 2019, was on a walk at about 8:15 a.m. on June 17 in Mackenzie Towne when she started to feel a bit of pain in her chest.
"As I was walking around the park near my house, I started getting really out of breath, and I was dragging myself almost," she told CTV News in an interview.
"I called my boyfriend and said, 'I don't know what's wrong, but something's wrong. I don't think I can make it home.'"
- Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
Kwadrans said she started to feel better as she was speaking with him, so she hung up and started to walk again, but could only make it to another home, where she sat down on a rock nearby.
"Part of me was saying, 'Natalie, just get up and go, push through it,' so I was fighting with myself about what to do.
"As I was having this internal struggle, this woman dressed up in business clothes walks up and says, 'Are you okay?'"
Kwadrans says the woman sat down with her and helped her calm down and figure out what was happening.
The woman then called 911, and that's when Kwadrans discovered they both had the same first name.
"It was kind of funny so that's why I call her 'My angel Natalie.'"
When an ambulance arrived, paramedics learned Kwadrans had high blood pressure and a very high heart rate.
She was taken to the Foothills Medical Centre where doctors later determined, based on her heart problems and cancer diagnosis, she could be suffering from venous thrombosis.
"Cancer is one of the leading causes for venous thrombosis, and out of venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism is the deadliest kind."
Kwadrans says she had a blood test and a CT scan, which revealed she had a bilateral pulmonary embolism.
"So both sides of the lungs were affected."
She's since been treated for the condition and is on the mend, but says she wants to make contact with her "angel Natalie" to thank her for helping.
"I kind of hazily remember her," she said. "I am looking for this light brown or darkish blond woman with long hair, professional looking – I don't know if she was walking to work or just taking a walk in Mackenzie Towne – so that I can thank her for saving my life.
"I don't think that she thought that would be the diagnosis – I don't think I knew that would be the diagnosis."
Kwadrans says if not for her angel Natalie's intervention, she likely would have attempted to push through and walk home, a decision that could have been fatal.
"Everyone has told me how lucky I am to be alive."
Kwadrans says she did give her saviour a hug before she got into the ambulance, but she wants to meet her again to thank her for stepping in to help.
"I would tell her how grateful I was to the fact she stopped, because not many people would've. You're so busy going to work.
"I even remember telling her, 'It's okay, I can wait now that you've called the ambulance, I'm okay to wait.'
She said, 'Nope, I'm waiting with you.'"
The icing on the cake, Kwadrans says, is her angel Natalie did more than just save her life – she also helped walk her dogs back home once she was in the care of paramedics.
"I gave her a one-time use emergency (security) code (for my house) and she walked my dogs home."
Kwadrans has since reached out on X to try and track down her angel Natalie, and says many people are now out helping her look.
"I never caught her last name or phone number, though that's what prompted me to put the tweet out."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Israel launches strikes on military targets in Iran, escalating Mideast wars
Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday on what it described as military targets in Iran in retaliation for a ballistic missile assault Oct. 1, officials said. There was no immediate information on damage in the Islamic Republic.
DEVELOPING Scotiabank confirms outage for mobile, online banking
Scotiabank has confirmed outages affecting mobile and online banking services, according to a statement published to its X account.
'I did everything I could': Canada Post driver recounts helping save woman from fiery Tesla crash
Canada Post driver Rick Harper recounts how he and others helped save a woman from a Tesla that caught fire after crashing into a guardrail on Lake Shore Boulevard.
An abrupt goodbye to a guerilla goldfish aquarium beneath a leaky Brooklyn fire hydrant
A makeshift aquarium that popped up this summer in a puddle beneath a leaky fire hydrant in New York City has been paved over, to the dismay of neighbours who turned the area into a hangout spot and goldfish shrine.
Climate change breaks heat records across Canada this summer
Human-caused climate change made almost all of Canada’s heat waves hotter and more likely, Environment and Climate Change Canada said in an announcement Friday.
Mother who beat and starved her 5-year-old son to death sentenced to over 50 years in prison
A New Hampshire woman was sentenced Friday to 53 years to life in prison in the death of her 5-year-old son, who was beaten, starved and exposed to drugs before his 19-pound body was found buried in a Massachusetts park in 2021.
'Get away from your inner circle': Liberal MP 'shocked' PM didn't take more time to reflect on calls to resign
Longtime Liberal MP Wayne Long says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should give more weight to the views of his backbenchers in determining his future leading the Party, rather than relying on those in his immediate orbit.
Mom and child jumped from a window to escape a Las Vegas fire that killed 2 children and 2 adults
Two adults and two children were found dead in the charred rubble of a house fire after a mother and another child jumped from a third-floor window to escape flames in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood, authorities said.
Russian actors made fake video depicting mail-in ballots for Trump being destroyed, FBI says
Russian actors made a widely circulated video falsely depicting mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania, U.S. officials said Friday.