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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Nearly one month after his accident, the 28-year-old man hit by a Dash-8 propeller still doesn't remember why he's in hospital, say his brokenhearted parents.

Ronok Jonathan Baroryee can't recall anything at all - including his parents, Jolly and Renold, his younger sister, Brigitta, and his wife, Anne.

"I have only one son," weeps his mother. "I want to get my son. I want to hold. I want to hug. But he doesn't know anything. When I ask, 'Can you tell your name?' he can't say nothing."

Baroryee was working his second shift as a Canadian North ramp employee, a part-time job he had taken to supplement his income, when he was struck in the head by the feathered propeller of a Dash-8 airplane at about 8:20 p.m. on Feb. 13.

Canadian North president Tracy Medve said the incident occurred shortly after Flight 478 from Cambridge Bay landed in Yellowknife with 13 passengers on board. According to Chris Krepski, a spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board, Baroryee "moved from the nose of the aircraft toward the right main landing gear area with wheel chocks in hand and was struck by the propeller."

Paramedics rushed him to Stanton Territorial Hospital, where he was stabilized before being medevaced to Edmonton's University of Alberta Hospital, where he remains, said his father Renold, who, with his wife, returned to Yellowknife Monday after an 11-day visit with their son.

The physical scar left by the propeller is jarring.

Beginning above Baroryee's right eyebrow, it then extends across his forehead to the top of his left ear, cuts across the top of his head and ends near the top of his right ear. Its path is jagged and the thick stitches have left a ridge down the centre of his head, easily visible after having been shaved.

If he is in pain, though, he cannot vocalize it. He barely says anything at all. Confused about why he is in the hospital, he would flail his arms and legs and attempt to pull out his oxygen tubes, intravenous line and catheter until doctors tied his limbs down. He is able to breathe on his own but has been bedridden since the incident.

Doctors cannot provide any assurances, say his parents, but insist that his recovery - to whatever extent he makes one - will take at least one year. They tell Jolly and Renold to keep their fingers crossed. Devout Christians from Bangladesh, Ronok's parents pray for a miracle and ask their family and friends to do the same.

Before Feb. 13, Baroryee was a strong, active man who loved to play guitar and used to sing with his father at their church in Toronto.

During their visit, Renold was able to wheel Ronok's bed to the hospital's healing garden. When they arrived, a woman was playing piano and singing a hymn called Blessed Assurance that Renold and Ronok had sung together many times.

"I asked Ronok, 'Do you remember this song?'" said Renold.

His son did not respond.

Life has become exceedingly difficult for Jolly and Renold. They themselves are in ill health and, though reluctant to leave their son, knew they had to return to work in Yellowknife in order to pay their bills.

Jolly keeps a close eye on Renold, a diabetic with heart problems, while fretting over her son from 1,500 km away. She wants to be with Ronok but refuses to leave her husband alone. In moments of quiet she stares in the direction of a framed photo of Ronok and Anne, her expression exposing her grief. The family declined to share a photo.

Medve says Canadian North has been providing some financial help to the family since the incident.

The airline has also been conducting "a very extensive internal investigation," Medve says.

"The procedures that we had in place prior to the accident are detailed procedures that were laid out and so we've gone back to make sure that the procedures were sound," she said. "There have been some minor procedural changes and a refocus on training and making sure that everyone's very familiar with the procedures."

Medve said she had heard Baroryee was out of the intensive care unit and was heartened by news of his progress.

On Wednesday, however, Jolly and Renold were informed that their son's condition had deteriorated. Doctors moved Baroryee back to the ICU when he began running a fever and showed an elevated white blood cell count.

Injured workers are entitled to receive benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act as long as they are medically unable to work and all medical expenses related to a compensable injury are covered for life, according to Kim MacEachern, a communications officer for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission.

Generally speaking, said MacEachern, workers give up their rights to sue employers in exchange for the protections provided by workers' compensation legislation.

The family declined to comment on whether they were taking any legal action against Canadian North.

MacEachern said the WSCC could not comment on specific claims.

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