Paramedic Who Rushed To Save 'Unrecognizable' Crash Victim Learns It Was Her Daughter

A Canadian paramedic's 'worst nightmare' happened after she unknowingly tried to desperately save her daughter's life only to later learn that she was her own flesh and blood.

Montana Erickson, 17, of Winfield, British Columbia, and a friend were involved in a car accident on November 15 after they lost control of the vehicle and were struck by an oncoming truck on an Alberta highway, north of Calgary. 

The teenager was so badly injured that she was unrecognized and her own mother,  Jayme Erickson, tried to keep the girl alive as she lay trapped in the car. 

The tragedy became Jayme's worst nightmare when she came back home and five minutes later police arrived at her door to tell her the teenager was in fact her 17-year-old daughter.

Jayme shared her unimaginable grief with family and friends in a Facebook post on November 18, writing: 'My worst nightmare as a paramedic has come true.

'The critically injured patient I had just attended to was my own flesh and blood. My only child. My mini-me. My daughter, Montana,' she wrote.

Montana and a friend were driving on an Alberta highway north of Calgary on November 15 when their car lost control on an icy road passage and they were struck by an oncoming truck.

Jayme responded to the crash and found a girl trapped in the passenger seat, with injuries so severe that she was unable to recognize her own daughter.

Jayme imminently provided the girl with emergency medical attention and waited with her until she was removed from the vehicle and airlifted to a Calgary hospital. 

'Although I am thankful for the 17 years I had with her, I am shattered and left wondering. What would you have become my baby girl? Who would you have been? I will never see you graduate and walk across the stage, I will never see you get married, I will never know who you would have been. I love you more than anything in this world,' she continued in the Facebook post. 

Jayme brushed away tears as she shared her grief with reporters in an Airdrie firehall, Alberta on Tuesday. 

Supported by family, friends, and emergency service colleagues, Jayme said: 'She was a fighter and she fought until the day that she died and she was beautiful. She was so beautiful. If she ever put an effort into anything she would always succeed at it.

'Anyone that knew Montana, they'd call her firecracker. She loved fiercely if you were her friend. She'd love you to the end of the world and back, and she would do anything for you. 

'She was a fighter, and she fought until the day that she died,' her mother said at a press conference. 

'She was beautiful, she was so beautiful.' 

The successful swimmer donated her organs after her death, her mother said. Two of the organs were 'lifesaving.' 

'We are so happy to know that our baby girl is living on through others,' the mother said of the aspiring lawyer. 'In the wake of this tragedy, she saved other people. We know that's what she would have wanted and we are so proud of her.' 

Richard Reed, a friend, and fellow paramedic broke down a number of times as he stood with Jayme. 

Talking about the horrifying incident, Reed stated that the driver was able to get out of the car but the female passenger was stuck inside with serious injuries.

Jayme was the first person on the scene. He said Jayme knew the girl was in trouble and sat there until she was extricated and transported to the hospital by air ambulance, still unaware of who it was.

Reed went on to describe how Jayme had rushed to the hospital after police told her about Montana. He said: 'On entering the room, to her horror, she found the girl that she had sat within the back of the crumpled vehicle keeping alive, so the family could say goodbye, and due to the extent of her injuries was unrecognizable, was Jayme's own daughter.

'Jayme unknowingly was keeping her own daughter alive.'

Alberta Health Services told Canadian media: 'Alberta Health Services EMS sends our deepest condolences to the family involved in this tragic event.'

The driver of the car was also hospitalized and is understood to be in a stable condition with minor injuries.

Canadian police is investigating the incident.