An Alberta woman is detailing the devastating story of her family members being forced to miss the final moments of her mother’s life because they couldn’t get through the blockade at the Coutts border crossing in southern Alberta.
Megan Allan is from Medicine Hat and says her eldest daughters and aunts were on vacation in Arizona when they got heart wrenching news.
“Grandma didn’t have much time left to be with us.”
An emotional clip from a Medicine Hat woman about the Coutts blockade at today's NDP presser.
She tears up as she explains how her aunts were stuck at the border crossing, and weren't able to say goodbye to their dying mother. #yeg #yyc #ableg #Covid19ab pic.twitter.com/lEQfOKVVvF
— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) February 10, 2022
Allan says the family booked flights home immediately and their plan was to land in Great Falls, Montana, grab their car, and head home to say their goodbyes.
That’s when an already stressful situation turned worse.
“My aunties landed at 9 on Monday evening in Great Falls,” she explained.
“They were unable to get through the 24-hour border crossing at Coutts due to the blockade.”
Allan says their next best option was to use the Wild Horse border which opened at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. But by that point, it was too late.
“Grandma passed away at 5:30 Tuesday morning with my dad by her side,” she said.
“They were unable to make it. They couldn’t have the opportunity to be with them because of the protests and the blockades. They would have made it if they could have got through.”
Allan says she understands the target message from the protesters is about freedom, but their movement, or lack thereof, affected her family’s freedom.
“My aunts never got the chance to say goodbye.”
