It's Been An Interesting Year.....

One year ago today Mathieu and I were lying in a clearing in a stand of trees off the end of the runway in Mascouche Quebec, next to the crumpled mess that up until a minute before had been a very nice Cessna 182. We were both in pain - a lot of pain - I was bleeding but couldn't move my head around enough to be able to see how badly, and all the feeling was draining out of my left arm from the shoulder down. I didn't know if I was going numb from loss of blood, from shock, or simply from lying on the cool forest floor. I didn't think either one of us was dying, after all, we'd gotten out of the wreck under our own power, but I couldn't be sure. After we'd been through x-ray at the hospital it was determined that Mathieu had a broken back, I had a broken neck that was pinching off my spinal cord threatening to sever it, but all the blood had come from a tiny little cut on my elbow that it only took 3 stitches to close.

I had surgery late that night, and after installing 4 titanium plates, 8 screws and a bone graft, the surgeon declared it to be a complete success. "You should regain a significant amount of use of your arm, with reduced range of motion and some loss of strength."

Will I be able to skydive again? "Absolutely not."

Will I be able to ride my motorcycle? "Your neck would never take the weight of having a helmet on it."

Will I be able to swim or play any sports? "Your neck will not be able to deal with the speed and range of motion required to be able to move your head to breathe while swimming."

The list went on, basically the doctor told me I was going to be facing a drastic change in my lifestyle, but that I was lucky to be alive. I agreed with the lucky to be alive part, but there was no way in hell I was going to simply accept the change in lifestyle part. I didn't work my ass into the ground in that hardware store for 23 years, then sell it, only to wind up playing shuffleboard and cards with the senior citizens in the park.

Fortunately my Orthopedic Surgeon in Ottawa had a completely different opinion: "I see nothing on your x-rays that will prevent you from returning to all your former activities, when the time comes." With his blessing, 8 weeks after the accident, Mark Jennifer and I went tearing about New England at dangerous and unsafe speeds on a 5 day motorcycle trip. (Okay, maybe the doctor didn't give his blessing to the dangerous and unsafe speeds part but he did say it was okay for me to ride) By the end of each day all the muscles in my neck and upper back were in agony from holding my helmeted head up against the airflow, but I never stopped grinning from ear to ear, and constantly thanked my lucky stars that my spinal cord, for whatever reason, hadn't quite been snapped off.

Today, one year later, I'm working for the summer at Eden North Skydiving Center in Alberta. In the last year I've had so many adventures and made so many accomplishments that I've begun to lose track. Life's good. Every day since I've found myself suddenly grinning for no particular reason at all, other than the simple fact that I'm alive. My arm isn't 100% yet, but every day it's a little stronger, slightly more flexible, and one day it will be as if  I'd never been hurt.

Mathieu isn't doing so bad himself. He returned to flight status this winter, became the proud father of a future skydiver, and even as I speak he's boarding a flight to St. Johns for work.

There's a tour bus with 40 tandems coming in from Lake Louise this afternoon, and including myself there are only 4 Tandem Instructors here to take them, Thursday and Friday I'll be doing evaluation jumps with Monique to convert some of my US ratings to Canadian ones as well as my regular working jumps, and on the weekend there's some insane number of Tandems booked in. Come Monday morning I'll be exhausted, but still smiling. I wish I had an email address for that doctor in Montreal that figured I needed to take up some new hobbies, I'd have a few things to tell him about willpower, determination, and the human spirit.

To all the people who have offered support and encouragement over this past year, particularly my Mom, Matt, Beth, and especially Diane, thank you. I haven't made this journey alone, I'm grateful you were all there to help.

Happy Anniversary Mathieu! Keep Smiling! I Am!

"Go West Young Man, Go West......."

"Go west young man, go west,
And seek fame, fortune, and adventure."   Horace Greely

I'm already famous, or is that infamous? I'll never have a fortune but I'll always have enough to cover my bar tab, fill the gas tank, and get a couple more jump tickets, and that's all I need. But Adventure? I'm always up for an adventure! So I've gone west.

You know you're in Sudbury when there's a Big-Ass nickel in the background.

Gladstone Manitoba. (Happy Rock - Gladstone, get it?)

Now that's a LOT of Bull!

Old MacDonald really did have a farm!

My 3rd province in as many days

Back to my roots

My summer home

My summer job

Lyal starts the daily staff meeting at 8 sharp: "We have a quiet day for tandems, there's a group of 14 booked for 9 o'clock with a total of 25 booked for the day. As usual we can expect some walk-ins. It's a cold morning, remember to put gloves on your passengers. Mark is teaching the First Jump Course, he has 10 people so we'll need some jump masters later in the afternoon.There are several AFF students booked, Larry gets priority on all the Level 1 and 2 students where possible." It goes on  to cover everything from equipment readiness to the talent contest scheduled for the evening to close out Gavin Days. 

At a quarter to 9 the P.A. comes to life: This is a 20 minute call for Caravan  load 1, Sig Tandem with Carol, Larry Tandem with Phillip, Chris Tandem with....." 35 minutes later we exit at 12,500 feet into a crisp sky with a layer of broken cloud far below us. Once the canopy is open above us we follow another Tandem down through a passage between towering cloud banks, with my passenger screaming with delight as he spots our shadow surrounded with 2 circular rainbows on the passing clouds. 

I've only just returned to the packing mat when I hear: "Caravan Load 2, Sig Tandem with Steve, Larry Tandem with Izzy...." I'm still gearing the guy up when Dustin sticks his head into the room to say "You're doing a back-to-back, your passenger will be Casey, and there will be a rig waiting for you by the plane." Crap! Now I have TWO people to gear up!

I land with Izzy, and as soon as he's unhooked I start tugging at my straps, drop the rig where we've landed, and run across to where the plane is waiting for me. Aidan has already double checked my passenger's harness so as soon as I pull on the waiting Tandem rig we're off again.

I know we've cleared up all the people from the the initial rush so I'm expecting a breather as I return to the packing mat after the jump, but I hear Manifest calling yet again: "Larry, can you make a 20 minute call for an AFF with a Level 2 student?" I look across the basketball court to where Margaret is half hanging out the window, with her microphone in hand. "Hell Yeah!!!"

I run grab my suit, sprint across to the gear room to meet my student, to find out that somehow Aidan has gotten there before me and has the guy all prepped and ready to go. As we ride up in the plane Aidan reviews the dive plan with the student, and it's clear to me that's he's briefing me every bit as much as he's briefing the student. 

I'd just pulled my gear off after the jump when Ray walks over to ask if I want to get in on an 8-way he's planning. "There's another group of Tandems watching the training video but we should have time before they get all their paperwork done." 

"I'm In! By the way do you know what time it is?" "Eleven fifteen" someone calls across the packing area. It's only been two and a half hours since I first heard my name over the P.A. 

Just another day at Eden North.