Man helps injured woman 1,900 miles away

• Tweet

MONTREAL, April 10 (UPI) -- An elderly Canadian woman who fell and hurt herself dialed a wrong telephone number and ended up getting help from a man 1,900 miles away, officials said.

Patsy Watkins lives alone in a seniors' apartment east of Montreal in Mont-Saint-Hilaire. Last week, she struck her knee, fell and cut her head, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

She told the broadcaster while she doesn't remember much after that; she apparently tried to call her daughter.

Instead, the landline phone of 23-year-old Matthew Washer, 1,900 miles to the west in Calgary, Alberta, rang.

Washer told the CBC he got the woman's name and phone number and began trying to help by calling his local 911 service. He said after 20 minutes with no success, he tracked down the business number of Watkins' apartment and called them.

Staff told him nurses were with the woman waiting for an ambulance.

Watkins told the CBC she considers Washer a hero.

"I think it's unbelievable that he took the time to do all that for a crazy old lady," she said.