HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-10-20, Page 32Continued from page 1
seeing the trailer lift off the ground
and then eventually it began rolling
where it ran him right over.
Johnston said he could feel the
pain instantly.
“I was having a tough time
breathing,” he said. “Sand was
blowing around and it was in my
mouth and my nose. I thought I was
done for actually.”
Johnston couldn’t move and then
the hail came.
Hail that was described as being
“as big as golf balls” by some began
to rain down on Johnston who could
only move his right arm to cover his
head.
“It didn’t feel too good,” he said.
“My arm was completely black and
blue.”
As Johnston lay there some people
rushed over to him, covered him in
blankets and called 911. With all the
confusion and dozens of calls
coming in, it took 30 minutes for an
ambulance to reach Johnston.
Once in the ambulance,
paramedics warned Johnston that it
would be a rough ride up to the
Alexandra Marine and General
Hospital, as the vehicle had to
traverse all sorts of debris, including
fallen trees. Johnston said the
paramedics weren’t joking, as he
remembers a rough ride to the
hospital.
After being x-rayed and stabilized,
Johnston was airlifted to London, a
trip that took just 16 minutes, he
said.
“It was a smooth ride,” he said. “It took longer to wind the thing up and land it than it took to get
there.”
Johnston has had two operations
on his foot to ensure there was no
infection due to the high amount of
sand in the wound (his right foot was
cut down to the bone) and he has had
pins inserted into his foot and toes to
hopefully help return them back to
normal. He has also had a flap of
skin stretched to cover the wound.
While that skin is currently black,
Johnston says, doctors are hoping
new skin will begin to grow under
the dead skin.
Johnston says that by spring he
should be able to put weight on his
foot and eventually walk as he did
before the incident.
“No one’s told me any different,”
he said.
He has an appointment with his
specialist on Oct. 20 to assess his
progress and give him an idea of a
recovery timeline.
Johnston says the treatment he
received from doctors in nurses in
Goderich, Clinton and London was
topnotch and that he can’t say
enough good things about them,
despite nearly being jokingly
transferred out of London early by
one nurse due to unforseen weather
conditions.
“That Wednesday when there was
another tornado warning, the nurses
(in London) moved us all into the
hallways away from the big
windows in case they broke,”
Johnston said. “One nurse said
‘you’re going home tomorrow, this
tornado’s following you.’”
In addition, he also says he owes a
debt of gratitude to several strangers
who helped him that day. To this
day he is still unsure of who they
are.
In addition to the people who
covered him in blankets, a manwaited with Johnston for theambulance to arrive, speaking with
him constantly to ward off the shock
that was setting in.
When McClure arrived in
Goderich, she was also assisted by a
young man who helped her down to
the beach to find Johnston’s truck
and belongings, which had been
wrapped in a tarp and left with his
vehicle.
As a self-employed carpenter,
Johnston is currently working on
applying for lost wages funding
from the Goderich and Area Disaster
Relief Fund. He has yet to hear
anything yet.
“It’s just a lot of red tape,” he says
of the application process.
In addition to preparing his
application, he is also speaking to
representatives at all levels of
government to see what his options
are.
Because the warning window was
so short for the Aug. 21 tornado,
Johnston says it’s unlikely he would
do anything differently if he was
faced with the situation again.
He said he, like many Goderich
residents, didn’t know the tornado
was coming, but in the future, he’ll
be heeding the warnings and
listening for them a little more
closely.
“People should pay attention to
the warnings,” he said. “Even when
we had them before, I paid little
attention to them. They would just
go in one ear and out the other.”
But with less than 15 minutes of
warning on that Sunday afternoon,
Johnston acknowledges that there
was little he could do, since he
didn’t know it was coming.
“If I had to do it over again, I
would maybe wait a bit,” he laughs.
“It was just a case of wrong place,
wrong time.”
PAGE 32. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011.Blyth man faces long road to recovery
Central Huron to
investigate golf carts
On the mend
Jim Johnston of Blyth is currently recovering from some serious injuries he sustained as a
result of the Aug. 21 tornado in Goderich. He was in Goderich doing some shopping and
stopped for some dinner when the tornado hit. He now faces a long recovery before he
expects to be putting weight on his right foot this spring. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
The topic of driving golf carts
around Clinton has once again been
raised by Central Huron Councillor
Brian Barnim who said it could be
tied into a new branding initiative in
the town.
Barnim said early response to the
idea has been “great” and that he
thinks it’s time to put municipal staff
to work on investigating the pros and
cons of allowing electric golf carts to
be used in Clinton.
Barnim said it’s a green initiative
that could potentially be used in the
rebranding of Clinton going
forward, something Central Huron
Council was hoping to do in the near
future.
“This would help with community
spirit and economic development,”
Barnim said. “It could be as simple
as making your town golf cart-
friendly.”
Barnim said he had already
received interest in the initiative
from a golf cart manufacturer that
could bring an actual cart to Central
Huron for residents to see, perhaps
in conjunction with a public meeting
on the idea.
Barnim said that winter was
obviously on the way and he was
hoping that a bylaw could possibly
be in place for spring of 2012 to
allow carts on town roads.
“I don’t live in town, but I can see
the economic development in it,”
Barnim said. “If it’s not a safety
issue, then why don’t we explore
it?”
Barnim mentioned that the idea
had been considered at Huron East
Council for potential
implementation in Seaforth, but that
the issue was dropped soon after
insurance issues proved the idea
difficult to make a reality.
The carts, should they be allowed,
would not be able to cross any
provincial or Huron County roads,
but they would be able to travel on
Central Huron roads.
A report will be presented to
council at its Committee of the
Whole meeting in October.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen