A Canadian tourist has been reunited with the “angel” off-duty nurse who helped when she was injured in the Harbour Nights stampede.

Erin Wilson had not seen Irene Walbaum since last Wednesday, when Ms Walbaum gave her first aid for a deep head wound suffered when she was run over by a pair of horses and their carriage.

She was therefore delighted to bump into her by chance at John Smith’s Bay on Sunday, and to have the opportunity to thank her.

“She was my angel that night. I’ll be forever grateful to her,” said Ms Wilson, with Ms Walbaum saying of the meeting: “I couldn’t believe it. I really wanted to catch up with her afterwards to see how she was doing. She looked wonderful.”

The 25-year-old youth worker from Toronto was among 19 people hurt in the incident.

She arrived on the Island last Wednesday, and headed down to the first Harbour Nights of the season that evening with sister Adrienne, brother-in-law Ryan, and his parents Doug and Betty Ann Lewis of the Bermuda Salvation Army.

Miss Wilson heard nothing of the panic further up Front Street when two horses got spooked near the Birdcage and ran off from their owner at a gallop, towing their empty carriage.

Busy watching Gombey dancers perform by Butterfield Bank, she suddenly became aware that the crowded tourist event had gone horribly wrong.

“I heard something loud and looked back and the horses were right behind me. They pushed me down and I went right underneath the carriage. I couldn’t tell you how long I was under there for. It felt like forever, although it was probably about five minutes,” she said.

“When I was under there I was wondering when it was going to be over and I couldn’t believe what was happening. People came pretty quickly and lifted up the carriage.”

Miss Wilson was able to get out from underneath, and was promptly assisted by a woman she later discovered to be Ms Walbaum, of Hamilton Parish, who works at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital Medical Clinic.

“She put a bandage on my head. I feel like she was an angel. She took me, hysterical as I was, and calmed me down,” she said.

Miss Wilson was taken by ambulance to hospital, where she received ten stitches for the three-inch wound that had penetrated to her skull.

“All of the staff who were working that night were excellent and will not soon be forgotten,” said Miss Wilson, who returns home this afternoon.

“I still find it unbelievable. It was surreal and we’re all still talking about it. Night-time is hard for me as I see the horses in flashbacks but I feel very lucky to get away with the injuries I had. I will never forget this trip to Bermuda but I’ve had a good vacation since, going to the beach and the caves.”

Ms Walbaum told The Royal Gazette she was fortunate to escape being hit by the horses herself as she waited to watch her daughter sing at Harbour Nights.

“When I looked round I saw Erin under the carriage, covered from head to toe in blood.

“I tried to help her as she had a very large laceration to her scalp which was a horrific sight, and she had a lot of abrasions and a swollen knee. I stayed with her until the ambulance came as she needed pressure put on the laceration,” she explained.

The most seriously injured of the Harbour Nights victims, Lucille Moniz, remained in hospital yesterday.

Ms Moniz, who was visiting the Island from the USA, suffered two broken arms, a broken leg and a badly damaged ear. Her condition was described as “stable” by a hospital spokeswoman.