Where were you?
“I just fueled up my truck near Enterprise, Northwest Territories and was on my way to Yellowknife. I remember noticing a silver Dodge 4-door pickup leaving, but didn't think anything of it.”
What happened?
“About 30 kilometers down the road, just past a rest area, there’s a dip in the road with rock walls on either side. I noticed the snow dust was moving across the road.”
Excuse me?
“If the snow dust is traveling in one direction, then a car just drove past. But no car had passed me. The snow dust was traveling across the road. That’s when I saw a pickup truck that was pretty banged up. I figured the accident just happened.”
So you stopped.
“Tried to. The road was all ice. Always is that time of year.
“It looked like the pickup truck rolled a few times. I hurried over to the vehicle and the woman was standing next to the driver’s door holding a baby boy. She said her twin daughter was still inside. About the same time, a Superior Propane Truck traveling south stopped. The woman’s hands were numb, so both she and the baby boy got into his truck to keep warm.”
What was the temperature that day?
“Minus 29 degrees Celsius. (-20F).”
Then what happened?
“I ran back to the pickup to get the little girl. When I looked inside the truck cab, all I could see was snow. When the pickup rolled over, it sucked in a lot of snow, filling the interior. I couldn’t see the child. And I was anxious about sifting through the snow, afraid I would hurt her with my heavy gloves. When I reached through the back window, which was broken, I was able to get a hold of her. But then I had another problem.”
What was that?
“I never put a child in a safety seat, never strapped a child into a car seat in my life. Now I had to figure out how to unbuckle a screaming baby who was buried in the snow.”
Did the other driver help?
"He was no help to me, he was too busy babysitting! No, he had to keep the little guy warm.
“But I managed to get the baby girl out of her car seat and pull her out of the pickup. I got her inside my truck, wrapped her in blankets and tucked her into my bed.
“The driver of the propane truck had pulled in behind mine, but I was nervous because the road was icy and we were blocking the highway. So I told the driver to go on, and I brought the woman and baby boy into my cab to warm up.”
Did you call 9-1-1 then?
“There is no 9-1-1 up there. I used the VHF radio to call the scales, which was located at the fuel station I was at earlier when I saw the pickup for the first time. They sent a DOT official.”
Why not an ambulance?
“In the Northwest Territories, DOT assists the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Since the nearest ambulance was too far away, the DOT cruiser took the mother and babies back to the scales. Around here, you can’t always wait for the ambulance; sometimes you have to go meet them part way.
“Just before DOT arrived, I used the VHF to pick up a Bell Canada operator and got a call patched through to the woman’s husband; I left a message with a secretary that his wife and babies were in an accident and were headed to the hospital.”
How long was the baby buried in the snow?
“I’m not sure exactly, but I’d say between five and six minutes.”
Did you ever see the family again?
“I checked in at the hospital the next day to make sure everyone was ok. The woman had wrapped her coat around her children to keep them warm, so I had given her my company jacket. I remember she was a bit anxious about getting blood on my coat, but she had a bad cut on her forehead. She returned the jacket to me. It was clean and she wrote me a nice note.”
What do you drive?
“Super B loaded with aviation fuel. I had a regular route. In the winter, I drove the ice bridge to Yellowknife. In the summer, I took the ferry across, and in the spring, I’d drive home and wait five or six weeks for the ice to melt and the ferry service to begin.”
Where’s home?
“Cape Broyle, Newfoundland.”
That’s quite a distance.
“About 9,000 kilometers. I just got home a few days ago. The old company was bought out so I decided it was a good time to move back home. In fact, I start next week at a new job out of St. John’s.”
Good luck to you.
What could have happened to the baby girl, buried under snow? We asked Dr. Nicole Radziminski, pediatrician at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife.
How long can a 6-1/2-month baby survive in -29 degrees?
“Every minute counts. If it took longer than 6 minutes to pull her out and get her warmed up, she would have likely developed serious complications related to hypothermia, including shock and even death. This is particularly true in the case of small infants who have very little reserve for tolerating hypothermia, so truly his actions saved this little girl's life.”
Thank you, doctor.
Editor’s note: Since 1956, the Truck Hero award has been presented each year to professional Canadian transport truck drivers. Nominated by Canadian trucking companies and the driving public, the award is given to a truck driver who demonstrates courage, quick thinking and integrity in the face of an emergency. |
