FILE - Sgt. Laurie Ann White is pictured at a media conference in Kelowna, B.C. on Feb. 23, 2015 regarding a drug seizure at the Trail border crossing. White is being described as "inspirational" by the RCMP Veterans' Association after her amazing comeback from a gunshot wound that forced surgeon to amputate the lower part of right leg.
(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)
November 28, 2015 - 9:00 PM
VANCOUVER – Sgt. Laurie Anne White is being called “inspirational” by the RCMP Veterans’ Association for her triumph over adversity, which continues to inspire others.
White was shot in the leg while executing a search warrant with two other officers at the home of a suspected sex offender in Kitimat, B.C. on Nov. 27, 1998, according to a post on the Veterans’ Association Facebook page.
When White tried to open the door, the suspect fired his rifle twice through the door hitting her right shin and the second nearly hit her partner Const. Del Byron, the Association’s secretary Mark Gaillard says in the post.
“As Const. White lay wounded, her two partners risked their lives to pull her to safety,” Gaillard says. “The suspect committed suicide.”
Const. Byron and Const. Michael MacDonald both received Commissioner’s Commendation for Bravery for their actions on that day.
White was transported by air ambulance to hospital in Vancouver and after eight hours of surgery she awoke to discover the lower part of her right leg had been amputated.
Gillard says the loss of her leg didn’t end her career in the RCMP. A year after she was wounded she returned to work in Kitimat.
“Fitted with a prosthesis, she endured several months of rehabilitation and became the first member of the RCMP to return to active duty with a prosthetic limb,” he says.
White has since become a motivational speaker.
“Her positive attitude and courage has been an inspiration for many,” Gillard says.
She has received the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General and a Medal of Valour from the International Association of Women in Policing.
White is currently the Federal Criminal Operations media relations officer in “E” Division in Vancouver.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infonews.ca. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015