Heidi Stevenson started out as my landlord and then changed my life, says RCMP N.L. officer
Sarah Bass credits fallen RCMP officer with putting her on the path to policing
Sarah Bass was a 21-year-old university student in the middle of switching schools and switching majors when a bright-eyed Mountie came into her life and changed everything.
Bass and her boyfriend, along with another couple, went to sign the papers to rent a house in Dartmouth in 2011. Into the kitchen came Heidi Stevenson, their new landlord, in an RCMP uniform.
"She cut the corner and the smile was stretching from ear to ear," Bass told CBC News Network. "Her personality. I look back and I describe it as, whatever she was selling that day, I would have bought."
They struck up a conversation and Bass told her how she was mulling over options in her education. Stevenson had a science degree, and told her how she loved her career in the RCMP.
Throughout the course of her tenancy in Stevenson's home, Bass was slowly convinced to apply to the RCMP. Stevenson took her on "countless" ride-alongs, showing her the ropes and how rewarding the career could be.
WATCH: 'I just owe her so much and I wish I could tell her that now,' says <a href="https://twitter.com/RCMPNL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RCMPNL</a> Constable Sarah Bass who considers Constable Heidi Stevenson a mentor. 'She definitely set me on a good path' <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NovaScotiaStrong?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NovaScotiaStrong</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/novascotia?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#novascotia</a> <a href="https://t.co/KWMh6dIlrY">pic.twitter.com/KWMh6dIlrY</a>
—@carolemacneilStevenson was killed Sunday by a gunman on a rampage in central Nova Scotia.
She leaves behind her husband, Dean, and two children.
Bass fought back tears as she described the impact Stevenson had on her, becoming more of a friend than a landlord.
"From the time I went to training to the time I was packing up my vehicle to come to Newfoundland, she was there checking in, asking how I was doing, there to support me in the times I wanted to pack up and go home. It was all so positive."
Bass has been an RCMP constable in Newfoundland for six years. She last spoke to Stevenson a few months back, when Stevenson checked in to see how she was doing.
"I've spent the last 48 hours or more just going from that Point A right to where I am, and I owe her so much. I wish that I could tell her that now."
Bass will always remember the moment when she first saw Stevenson and the smile on her face.
"At the time when Heidi showed up, I was switching universities, switching my major, probably lost and not knowing what exactly was for me. Maybe it was just the right time for her to show up."