He rescued her when she was 3 in 1944, now, the two meet in Ottawa for the first time since then
In a moment that was almost 80 years in the making, a 98-year-old Ottawa veteran reunited this weekend with the girl he rescued when she was just three years old in Holland during the Second World War.
"I'm elated," said Dr. Roly Armitage of meeting Sonja Jobes in person after so many years. "It's unbelievable."
"I never expected this, never," said Jobes.
The pair, along with family and friends, gathered in the city's west end on Sunday afternoon to celebrate.
Armitage was behind the wheel of a Jeep on a cold night in 1944 when something caught his eye in a nearby ditch.
"I thought I saw movement and I looked and lo and behold two children," Armitage recounted.
He pulled both of them out of the ditch and brought them to a field kitchen to give them something to eat and get them warmed up. The little boy went home, he said, but the little girl was sent to a nunnery and he had no idea what happened to her after he was forced to move on with the troops.
Earlier this year he told his story to Dutch media in the hopes of somehow figuring out who the little girl was and it worked.
Jobes, now 83, lives in Minnesota and came across the article online.
"I read it and I knew that was me," she said. "It was like a puzzle kind of came together."
The two spoke over the phone and by e-mail but only met in person for the first time this weekend.
"When I first saw Roly, well I told you I was going to give him a big hug and never going to let him go again, and then after I let him go he said 'I thought you said you were never going to let me go,'" she said laughing. "Then I held him again and gave him another hug and held on for a little while… he was my hero really."
"I’ve told her 1,000 times I love her and how much I admire her," Armitage said.
Both Armitage and Jobes say they plan to stay in touch now that they've reconnected.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Speaker kicks Poilievre out of Commons over unparliamentary comments
Speaker Greg Fergus kicked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre out of the House of Commons during question period today.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Conservatives push motion calling for Carney to testify, say it's about 'accountability'
The federal Conservatives made good on their promise to push for former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney to testify before MPs, resulting in a heated political debate in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Freeland previews omnibus budget bill, proposed capital gains tax change left out
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
London Drugs stores remain closed, 'cybersecurity incident' may have breached personal data
London Drugs says it is working with third-party security experts as the company tries to reopen dozens of stores across Western Canada that were shuttered by a cybersecurity incident Sunday.
McGill requests 'police assistance' over pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University says it has 'requested police assistance' about the pro-Palestinian encampment on its lower field.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.