A Calgary speed skater recently named to Canada’s Olympic team has had the chance to thank the person she says saved her life five years ago.

Brianne Tutt’s skating career nearly came to an end in a nasty crash at Calgary’s Olympic Oval in December, 2012. Tutt had been getting ready for a practice race in the starting line area when another speed skater with his head down slammed into her at full speed.

The impact caused Tutt to flip into the air and land hard on the ice. She cracked her skull, suffered a broken neck, ribs and collarbone, as well as a severe concussion and some hearing loss.

Calgary firefighter Innes Fraser was in the stands that day, watching his son play hockey when he heard people screaming about the crash. He rushed down from the stands to help, and found Tutt convulsing, with blood seeping from her ears. 

She was still conscious and, as is not uncommon with brain injury victims, had become suddenly violent, trying to punch anyone who came near her. Fraser was able to calm Tutt down and stabilize her while also talking with paramedic dispatchers on the phone to update them on Tutt’s condition.

Hospital doctors told Tutt that there was a possibility that she might never walk again. But Tutt was able to battle back from her injuries to lace up her skates and compete in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games just 13 months later. She finished 34th in her event.

Tutt, now 25, has continued her recovery, but had never been able to meet the man who helped save her life. On Sunday, the two finally met each other for the first time since the crash.

They hugged as they met at the Olympic Oval and Tutt became tearful as she tried to tell Fraser what it meant to have had his help that day.

“I remember waking up in the hospital and thinking, ‘I don’t know how I came back’’,” Tutt told him, holding back tears. “Because to have that experience where you’re watching yourself die on the ice is something that really changes you.”

Fraser told her he was only doing what he had been trained to.

“I think any firefighter that was there would have done the same thing, but I’m glad it was me,” he told her.

Tutt later told CTV Calgary that meeting the man who helped save her was a “strange” experience.

“You’re literally meeting the guy that saved your life and there’s nothing I can ever do to thank him for doing that," Tutt said. “I cried when I saw him. I never cry. It’s such a special feeling. I feel like I owe him so much.”

Fraser says it’s rare for firefighters to later meet the people whose lives they have saved.

“It’s like meeting an old friend. It was really very satisfying to know she’s done as well as she’s done,” he said.

Though Tutt still lives with lasting effects of her injuries, she says she’s now inspired to become a firefighter herself once her speed-skating days are behind her.

But, for now, her eyes are on Olympic gold in Pyeongchang.

“I had a Top 5 finish here in Calgary. It’s definitely an attainable goal,” she said.

With a report from CTV Calgary’s Ina Sidhu