PSW describes helping rescue young woman in Sault mall stabbing

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PSW helped save stabbing victim at Sault mall

Sault police charge man in critical stabbing of stranger

A violent attack at the Station Mall in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., last weekend could have turned deadly if not for the intervention of bystanders, including a local personal support worker whose first-aid efforts may have saved the victim’s life.

A ‘hero’ shares her story

Jodi-Lynn Brouillard, a PSW and mother, was walking along the Sault Ste. Marie boardwalk when she entered the mall and encountered a horrifying scene: a 21-year-old woman lying in a pool of blood after being stabbed multiple times by a stranger.

Friday she shared her story with CTV News.

“I went over there, and she was just laying there in a puddle of blood – so I went over and started helping her,” Brouillard said.

“Me and this other girl, Jen … two gentlemen gave us their shirts just so we could put them on her wounds to stop the bleeding and held pressure on it.”

As the victim feared she would die, Brouillard reassured her.

“(We) started talking to her … She was very scared. So, I was just reassuring her, telling her to breathe and keep calm as much as she can in that situation,” she said.

Attacker taken into custody, victim airlift to hospital

Local police located and arrested the accused attacker, charging him with attempted murder, among other offences.

The victim was airlifted to Greater Sudbury’s Health Sciences North in critical condition but has since been taken off life support. Her recovery is expected to take months, though her family hopes she can soon return to the Sault Ste. Marie for continued treatment closer to home.

Personally proud

Brouillard, who drew on her medical training to stabilize the victim before paramedics arrived, said she didn’t initially realize the impact of her actions.

“After everyone messaged me and told me how proud they were, I didn’t think of it that way. I just thought, I did what I had to do,” she said.

“I’m proud of myself.”

Brouillard told CTV News that she plans to meet the young woman once she returns home.