'Selfless' man killed in B.C. mudslide used final moments to save lots of his mom, sister says

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Brett Diederichs’s final phrases have been spoken in the best way his sister says he spoke all through his complete life: to assist another person.

Diederichs, 36, was standing on the principle freeway exterior of Lillooet, B.C., together with his mom when he realized a mudslide was charging down the hill above them. Straight away, he shouted at his mom.

“They heard a extremely intense, loud rumble. The bottom shook. The very last thing my mother remembers is my brother screaming, ‘Mother, get again in your automobile.’ Which she did, simply within the nick of time,” Kirsten Diederichs, Brett’s older sister, stated in an interview Wednesday. 

“My brother simply could not make it again. He was instantly misplaced.”

The Diederichs household has recognized Brett, a educated paramedic and well-known determine in Toronto’s restaurant scene, because the fifth individual believed to have been killed by a landslide Nov. 15 in an space of B.C.’s Freeway 99 referred to as the Duffey Lake Highway.

The hillside slipped away throughout one of many worst rainstorms the province has seen in many years, sending a rush of mud and particles straight into the automobiles and folks on the highway beneath.

WATCH | Brett Diederichs was killed in a mudslide close to Lillooet, B.C.:

Misplaced within the floods: Brett Diederichs

5 folks have been confirmed killed in mudslides in B.C., together with Brett Diederichs, 36, whose sister recounts the horrifying moments earlier than he was swept away. 2:03

By a miracle, Kirsten stated, Brett’s mom and accomplice weren’t bodily harm.

Couple was on their approach to a brand new dwelling, household says

Brett and his longtime accomplice, Madison Van Rijn, have been on the highway final weekend as a result of they have been transferring from Peachland, B.C., to Victoria.

They’d been dwelling with Brett’s mom, Brenda, within the Okanagan metropolis since 2020, after Brett misplaced his restaurant job through the pandemic. Brett spent his final summer time in B.C. working on the entrance strains as a paramedic through the province’s brutal wildfire season.

He and Van Rijn made plans to maneuver to the island for a contemporary begin with a extra temperate local weather, fast entry to the ocean and a vibrant culinary scene.

Brett Diederichs and his accomplice, Madison Van Rijn, in an undated photograph. (Submitted by Kirsten Diederichs)

The timing appeared ultimate — his mom’s dwelling in Peachland had bought with a deadline of Sunday, Nov. 14, and the brand new place in Victoria was accessible the next day. 

Brett and Van Rijn left the Inside for the coast with Brenda following in her personal SUV.

The worst of the storm hit that Sunday. By late afternoon, mudslides and washouts had knocked out two of the three main highways they wanted to take.

The household holed up for the night time in Kamloops and, on Monday, they headed for his or her final possibility: Freeway 99.

“They have been anxious to simply get on the highway and get to their new dwelling,” stated Kirsten. 

Fallen timber and particles on Freeway 99 are pictured on Nov. 15 after a flood swept by the world close to Lillooet, B.C. 4 our bodies have been recovered from the particles and the search has been known as off for a fifth individual nonetheless lacking, RCMP stated. (B.C. Ministry of Transportation/Reuters)

Site visitors got here to a cease forward of a small landslide that had already come down, simply exterior of Lillooet.

“My brother obtained out of the automobile to go and see if he may assist, or if anybody wanted assist, and my mother determined to simply soar out and take her canine for a stroll,” stated Kirsten.

The lethal mudslide got here down moments later. Brett disappeared.

4 our bodies have been recovered from the particles. RCMP haven’t confirmed Diederichs because the fifth individual nonetheless lacking, however confirmed the seek for the final physique has been suspended.

‘He took care of everybody’

Kirsten stated she and Brett have been each born in New Westminster, B.C., and spent their early years within the metropolis earlier than the household moved to Toronto once they have been 11 and 9. 

In his 20s, Brett began working in eating places throughout the town and shortly rose by the ranks and into senior administration.

“He instantly made a reputation for himself,” Kirsten stated.

“He was only a actually candy, loving human. He was such an emotionally clever, form, beneficiant individual. He had so many loving, expensive associates for that very motive.”

Brett Diederichs pictured together with his mom, Brenda Diederichs, and his accomplice, Madison Van Rijn in an undated photograph. Brenda and Van Rijn survived the mudslide. (Submitted by Kirsten Diederichs)

His final phrases to his mom summed up who he was as an individual, Kirsten stated.

“He seemingly saved her life by screaming at her to get again within the automobile,” she stated. 

“That is what he did for everybody. Did not matter if it was listening or cooking or bodily being out within the forest fires as a paramedic, it is what he all the time did — assist everyone else.

“He took care of everybody, together with me.”

WATCH | 

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