HALIFAX -- It’s going to be a while before the smile is extinguished from one Cape Breton senior's face.
Ninety-one-year-old Bernice Sampson has always wanted to ride in a fire truck, and her wish finally came true when one pulled up outside her home to pick her up.
"The only thing I was thinking was 'my gosh, the neighbours might think I’m having a fire over here,'" said Sampson. "It wasn’t a fire, it was something more exciting than that."
It all started when her grandson Adam, a member of the North Sydney volunteer fire department, started hatching the plan.
"He said, 'we’re going to take you out in the fire truck, will you go?' and I said ‘sure!'" said Sampson.
Sampson took her front row seat in the truck, as her grandson fired up the lights and sirens – as if they were on a real call.
She pulled a lever, sounding the horn, startling herself. "I got such a scare," she said with a laugh. "I pulled it right quick, and of course I let a holler out of me."
"She had an ear-to-ear grin," said Lloyd MacIntosh, the fire chief at the North Sydney volunteer fire department. "She was wide-eyed and bushy-tailed."
MacIntosh says it was an easy decision to give the ride-along the go-ahead.
'It's not so often you can fulfill somebody’s lifelong dream," he said, smiling. "And if you can do that, that’s a good feeling. That’s a nice day."
The ride-along comes after some hard times for Sampson.
Not only has she been mostly stuck at home during COVID-19, but about a year ago, she lost her husband.
Bernice Sampson holds a photo of her late husband, who passed away about a year ago. (Photo: CTV News/Ryan MacDonald)
"My husband died last January, just before COVID started," said Sampson. "And of course, if it wasn’t for my family coming and going…it was lonely at times."
When asked why she’s always wanted to ride in a firetruck, Sampson said she wasn’t sure. But when she was dropped off after the big day, she made it clear she won’t soon forget the experience.
"It meant a lot," she said. "It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my days."
