Heroes honoured for dramatic rescue
Mike Zorn says he would not be alive without efforts of friends after crashing snowmobile on Harding Lake
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, June 6, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Mike Zorn has a difficult time talking about the events that changed his life on March 13, 2015.
The Yellowknife resident choked up several times Thursday night as the heroes who helped save his life that winter day were honoured with awards from the Order of St. John.
Daniel Hunter, left, Mike Zorn, Trevor Curtis and Ashley Rivers put their arms around each other at the St. John life-saving awards presentation Thursday night in Yellowknife. Zorn nearly died in a snowmobile crash on Harding Lake east of Yellowknife in March 2015. His friends helped save his life. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
Zorn has no problem re-telling the story about how he crashed his snowmobile at high speed on Harding Lake, 50 km east of Yellowknife and suffered life-threatening injuries - it is describing how he feels about those who saved his life that he has a difficult time putting into words.
"It hits me kind of close to home," an emotional Zorn said at the ceremony, held at Quality Inn. "Without them I never would have made it back home."
The married father of three and his long-time friends and hockey teammates were on an annual snowmobile trip near Namushka Lodge when he hit a snowdrift.
"The snowmobile flew up in the air and landed on my chest. I had 14 broken ribs. My lung was collapsed. My spleen was bleeding," he said. "They medevaced me down to Edmonton - I was there for three weeks and I have been off work (at Air Tindi) for the last 15 months."
As he waited for help on the frozen lake he was convinced he was going to die. He told one of his rescuers - Ashley Rivers - to say goodbye to his kids for him.
It took about two hours before a helicopter finally landed on the lake and transferred Zorn to hospital. It was about -25 C at the time.
Rivers and Trevor Curtis got a fire going and stayed with Zorn until help arrived, while Daniel Hunter rode his sled back to the lodge to get help.
No one actually saw Zorn crash his machine. Hunter was the first one on the scene and had to dig his head and torso out of the snow. All three rescuers realized Zorn had a concussion, was having difficulty breathing and could not be moved. By this time it was starting to get dark. There is no cellphone service in the area.
"Once we got him out of the snow we could not move him, he was in so much pain," Rivers said. "He told us not to touch him. Mike is a super tough guy - if he said he was in trouble, we knew he was in trouble. He was in shock. We just kept telling him that everything was going to be alright."
In modest fashion, all three shrugged off the hero tag, saying all they did was help their friend as he would have for them.
Once word got back to Yellowknife about the accident, there was some confusion as to how to get Zorn off the lake and to the hospital, leading to delays in his rescue.
The event led to changes in the medical-extraction protocol for remote areas of the NWT. In April, the GNWT announced a single dispatch service would provide for quicker air response to emergencies out on the land. Previously, RCMP would scramble to use whatever air resources were available.
Daniel Hunter, Trevor Curtis and Ashley Rivers were honoured with the St. John Life-Saving Gold Medal from former NWT Commissioner George Tuccaro for their role in the rescue.
Kevin Mindus, Doug Melville and Sam Shannon received the silver award for their efforts that day as well. They arrived on the scene shortly after the accident and pitched in to help keep Zorn alive.
Several others, including the owners of Namushka Lodge and other hockey teammates were given the certificate of commendation for their contributions to the rescue.
Stuart Pope also received the gold medal at the awards presentation for an unrelated rescue. He helped two canoeists out of rapids on the Mackenzie River in July 2014.
