HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-02-04, Page 20PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016.
Auburn's Scott recounts near -death experience
The drop
Joel Scott found himself in harrowing circumstances in
2008 while on a kayaking trip along the Barranca Grande
River in Mexico. Here, he can be seen dropping several
dozen feet to the next level of the river below. (Photo submitted)
PEOPLE AROUND
AUBURN
By Mark
Royal!
Call
519-441-2223
The articles I write for Auburn
news I like the most are when I get
to write about people. This week I'm
writing about one of my favourite
people, Auburn resident and friend,
Joel Scott. Joel is a member of the
beloved Scott family who own and
operate one of Auburn's greatest
enterprises, the Auburn Riverside
Retreat, a successful and popular
family campground.
Back in 2008 Joel, along with his
brother Jordan, embarked on a
lengthy kayaking trip with 32 others
that began in Quebec, went over to
James Bay, then down through the
United States and into Mexico. They
were part of a program called
W.I.L.D., which stands for
Whitewater Intensive Leadership
Development. Every day they
paddled through class -four and
class -five rapids and would
frequently kayak over 20- and 30 -
foot waterfalls. There were times
when they would have to rescue one
another out of peril on the river.
Joel showed me pictures where he
was standing on shore right at the
edge of raging rapids with a rope
attached to him. He would have to
jump in to save fellow kayakers who
go into trouble and needed help. In
another picture Joel points out to me
a rapid where he almost drowned.
The Scott brothers were on this
Along the river
Joel Scott, in front of his brother Jordan, were on quite an
adventure along the Barranca Grande River in Mexico in
2008 as part of a kayaking trip that began in Quebec and
went through the U.S. and into Mexico. (Photo submitted)
excursion for their school, Summit
College, training and learning how
to rescue and save people in the
exact situations they were throwing
themselves into every day on the
water. Joel said it was often
dangerous recalling how one day he
saw a person in another team just
ahead of him die on the Upper
Gauley River in West Virginia.
On Nov. 18, 2008 the Scott
brothers and their team were on the
Barranca Grande River in Mexico
when Joel went over a rock and
down under the water in a turbulent
water hole but didn't come back up.
His brother Jordan yelled to the
other kayakers who rushed over to
where Joel went under. They pulled
him up out of the water and dragged
him onto the shore. Joel's heart had
stopped. Joel didn't know it at the
time but he had a condition called
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy — an
enlarged heart muscle.
One of the amazing aspects of this
story is that the team Joel was with
was the only team that had been
carrying a defibrillator. So there, on
the side of a river in the jungles of
Mexico, they cut Joel out of his suit
and zapped him. They got his heart
beating again. They were not out of
the woods, or `jungle' yet. They
carried an unconscious Joel through
thick jungle until they came to a
road. They had a satellite phone and
were able to call for help. A truck
with medical supplies met them and
rushed Joel to a Mexican hospital.
Meanwhile when Joel's family
back in Auburn had heard what had
happened they rushed down to
Mexico to be with him. Joel's
insurance company had sent a
medevac plane to bring him back
home to Canada. However, the
hospital in Mexico was not wanting
to release Joel. Apparently Joel's
insurance company was considered
quite a financial windfall and they
did not want to lose him as their
customer. The family had to
basically pull off a covert operation
and kidnapped Joel out of the
hospital, paying off armed guards
and hospital personnel to help get
him out.
With Joel still unconscious and in
serious condition, they also paid a
doctor to travel with Joel and the
family from the hospital to the
medevac plane. However, before
leaving the hospital and wanting to
save money, this doctor removed
Joel's intravenous and the
tracheotomy tube that was helping
him to breathe. When they were
finally away from the hospital, this
doctor simply jumped out of the
vehicle at a red light and left them on
their own. When they arrived at the
medevac plane the medical staff
there were shocked to find that the
Mexican doctor had removed all
these things that were helping to
stabilize Joel.
Joel was transported to a hospital
in London where they woke him up
out of an induced coma. He had no
recollection of the accident or what
had happened to him afterwards.
They fitted Joel with an implantable
cardioverter -defibrillator (ICD), a
battery -powered device placed under
the skin that would keep track of his
heart rate. Thin wires connect the
ICD to his heart. If an abnormal
heart rhythm is detected, the device
will deliver an electric shock to
restore a normal heartbeat. Joel said
it misfired once when he was on a
ski -lift. It really hurt and it even
shocked the others riding on the ski -
lift with him.
In the summer of 2014 Joel was
working and going to school in
Alberta. He recalls how one day he
could tell his heart condition was
worsening. While driving himself to
the hospital he had to pull over
where he called 911 who sent an
ambulance. The doctors at the
hospital gave Joel little hope, telling
him there was nothing more they
could do for him.
About 10 days before this heart
episode Joel recounts how he was
reading Galatians 4 in the Bible. He
remembers how all at once, the
Bible passage made complete sense
to him. In that same moment, he said
he experienced the strong loving
presence of God right there with
him. He had an overwhelming sense
of just how much God loved him. It
was wonderful, he said. I really can't
describe how powerful that moment
was. While in the hospital in Alberta
he says he dropped to his knees and
began to sincerely and genuinely
thank and praise God. He wasn't
asking anything from God, he was
just giving Him honour. Then Joel
said in that moment God told him He
would heal him of his heart
condition. Not now...but he would
do it.
When Joel got out of the hospital
he came back home to Auburn. Last
March, Huron Chapel in Auburn
began holding prayer summits every
other month where the church comes
together to pray to God for about
two hours. A week before our first
prayer summit, Joel and I were
having coffee together when he told
me that God had told him that He
would heal him at the prayer
summit.
I remember feeling both excited
and nervous. We prayed for Joel that
night, we believed God would heal
him of his hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy. Two weeks later
Joel had an appointment with his
doctor who told him that his septum
had shrunk from 47 millimetres to
Obituaries
GRAHAM WORK
Graham Work of Brussels, passed
away with family at his side on
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016 at Seaforth
Community Hospital. Born in Grey
Township, on Nov. 2, 1921, Graham
was in his 95th year.
Graham was the beloved husband
for 67 years of Margaret (Moffat)
Work and the loving father of Ken
Work and Paula, Hinton, Alberta;
Judy Work -Lowry and Rob, Point
Clark; Kathy Work-Schlattman and
Byron, London and Brian Work and
Jackie, Caledonia. He was the dear
grandfather of Tim, David, Wade,
Brad, Megan, Todd, Rick, John,
Jessica and Kim and dear brother of
June Baeker, London. Graham was
also loved by his many nieces
and nephews. He was predeceased
by his parents Mary and John
Work.
Friends will be received by the
family on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at the
Schimanski Family Funeral Home
and on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at
Melville Presbyterian Church where
the funeral service will be
conducted at 2 p.m. Interment will
be at Brussels Cemetery in the
spring.
As an expression of sympathy,
memorial donations may be made to
Melville Presbyterian Church.
Online condolences may be left at
www. schimanskifamilyfuneral
home.com
FROM AUBURN
32 millimetres. Normal is 11
millimetres. The doctor was
perplexed telling Joel that when the
doctors had measured his septum in
Alberta they must have made a
mistake. This was the only way the
doctor could account for his
shrinking septum. However, Joel
knew God was healing him and
today Joel believes he is now fully
healed.
What amazed me further was that
there was another man at that first
prayer summit who was also
suffering from a heart condition. He
had to take a leave of absence from
his work. He too had been prayed for
and was healed. Today he is fine and
back at work. Amazing.
Today, Joel will tell you that he is
glad he was sick because through it,
he drew close to God and God drew
close to him.
To help maintain his health Joel
has changed his diet eating only
whole foods that are free from
additives or other artificial
substances. Joel believes he needs to
be faithful doing his part of his
healing as God has been faithful in
doing His. Joel read for me Mathew
6:14-15 from the Bible where it
says, "In prayer there is a connection
between what God does and what
you do. You can't get forgiveness
from God, for instance, without also
forgiving others. If you refuse to do
your part, you cut yourself off from
God's part."
Do you have fond memories that
you'd like to share of someone
whose obituary has been
published recently in The
Citizen. Send us a few lines or
paragraphs with your story.
E-mail editor@northhuron.on.ca,
Fax 519-523-9140 or mail to:
The Citizen, P.O. Box 429, Blyth,
NOM 1H0 or P.O. Box 152,
Brussels, NOG 1 HO. There is no
charge for comments we choose
to publish.
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