Stettler woman who survived a random shooting shares her story in the fall edition of the STARS air ambulance newsletter.
Krista Dryden, now 40, was shot by a stranger while she tried to get away on a side road in Stettler at about 9 a.m. on May 28, 2012.
Dryden, a mother of four, was running home from dropping off her lawn mower for service when a man in a car pulled up beside her on the street. At the time, Dryden thought that the man was lost and needed directions.
The man told Dryden to get in the car or he would shoot her. When she refused, he pulled out the gun and held it out of the car door.
Dryden started running. The man fired a bullet that struck her in the back, punctured her lungs and came out through her shoulder. She was knocked off her feet and got up and ran to the highway, where she was picked up by a friend. She was taken to the Stettler Hospital and Care Centre before she was flown to Foothills Medical Centre by STARS air ambulance.
Dryden spent 10 days in the hospital, recovering from the non-life-threatening injuries.
Dryden said STARS is “a wonderful organization” that has helped many people in the community and she thanked the organization for her second chance.
“It could have turned out a lot different,” said Dryden, who teaches safety courses in Stettler. “I think you push a little harder after something like that. I was pretty determined. I have four daughters and I don’t want them to be scared to walk down the street. This isn’t normal for people to be like that. There’s good people out there and they need to know that.”
Dryden reported minor lasting effects from the shooting, including a mild cough because of damage to her lungs.
Dustin Goddu, 31, a funeral director in Red Deer, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a rural area near Coronation, where he fled after shooting Dryden in Stettler. His death followed a lengthy standoff with police.
— Black Press