17-year-old credited as a hero after helping older adult in ‘crisis’

It was a normal day for a 17-year-old babysitter before she got a knock at the door yesterday afternoon.

Carys, from North Grenville, opened the door to an elderly driver, who started making statements that let her to believe the person was suffering from memory loss. After calming the driver down, Carys got a phone number for a family member.

She called several times, leaving voicemails, hoping to speak with the older adult’s family. At some point the driver left and Carys called provincial police for help.

Police said Carys provided “perfect” descriptions of the vehicle the adult was driving, licence plate and the person.

The Mobile Crisis Response Team responded and located the driver who had been found by a family member after receiving calls from Carys.

The older person was in crisis, and police worked with the family to support.

“We are happy to say that supports are now being put in place to properly care for this person and Carys’ phone call made the difference,” police said in a post. “There is no doubt that yesterday’s incident could have turned very differently had she not taken action like she did.”