Good Samaritan who died saving woman's life always helpful: son

When Patrick Hare of Red Deer visited a mall or a store, he was the man who always held the door open for everybody, said his son, Ron Hare.

“At times, you know, he could hardly walk at best, but he's still there holding the door, making sure everybody gets in, and it's just one thing he always did,” Ron Hare said. “He'd always stop to help.”

Patrick Hare, 80, died last week, days after being injured on a highway outside Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island.

Police say Hare had pulled over early March 2 to help a woman whose car hit a pole. Hare and the woman were standing near the damaged vehicle when it was hit by a suspected impaired driver, and police say Hare likely saved the woman's life by pushing her out of the way.

His son said he saw his father's cellphone log, showing he'd called 911 three times as he waited with the woman for help.

“That's why he stopped along the highway. He just didn't pass and keep driving on,” Ron Hare said.

Hare and the woman were taken to hospital with serious injuries, but Hare died in a Victoria hospital.

Ron Hare said his father had only been on Vancouver Island for a few hours when he stopped to help the woman, not far from a condo in Parksville where he spent a couple of months vacationing each year.

Family life was important to his dad, who lost both his parents when he was just 21, Hare said.

He said the death has left his dad's friends and family struggling with the loss, “his grandchildren, especially.”

The loss feels “senseless,” he said, but his family wants to remember him as a dedicated family man whose last act was heroic.