Clinton News Record, 2015-02-04, Page 7Wednesday, February 4, 2015 • News Record 7
Elephants, butterflies and more, Two local men unite after
oh my! Naturally Awesome one saves the other's life
Adventures at the Piner
Lakeshore Advance
Lakeshore Advance
Local resident Shane
Plunkett worked as a
Reserve Manager and Sec-
tion Head (equivalent of
Park Superintendent and
Assistant Superintendent)
in provincial parks in
South Africa - and he has
the stories to prove it!
Plunkett remembers
driving home one evening
to the house where he, his
wife and their young son
lived inside the park
boundary. When he was
about an hour away, his
wife called him. "She told
me I should be careful
when I got back because
there was an elephant
feeding off tree branches
less than 10 meters from
our front door," he recalls.
"I thought she was joking,
but the tone of her voice
indicated otherwise."
Plunkett went into his
house the back way, and
looked out the window:
sure enough, there was a
male elephant in his front
yard. He went and got his
rifle...
So what happened next?
You'll have to attend the
next Naturally Awesome
Adventure event at Pinery
Provincial Park to find out!
At an event on February
7, 2015 at 10 a.m., Plunkett
will be trading stories and
sharing experiences with
Alistair Mackenzie, the
Pinery's Resource Manage-
ment and Natural Heritage
Education Supervisor.
Mackenzie, who coinci-
dentally also grew up in
South Africa, knows a
thing or two about life on
the wild side. At one time,
his job involved "den
extraction" -digging up
bear dens in mid -winter
and removing the (hope-
fully) sleepy mothers and
cubs for health monitor-
ing. "It's a life -altering
experience,' he says. "Bear
dens are places humans
aren't meant to go.
Y
The event is part of a
series designed to remind
local residents about the
joys of winter in the Pinery.
On March 21, naturalist
Julie Stellingwerf and Psy-
chological Associate Lori
Szwarz will be presenting,
"The Top 50 Things to Do
Outside Before Age 12," a
look at strategies for intro-
ducing children to the joys
of the natural world. There
will be activities for chil-
dren to enjoy while their
parents and grandparents
hear the presentations.
Then on April 11 Brenda
Kulon, the Butterfly Whis-
perer, will be sharing her
breathtaking presentation
and talking about how
homeowners can encour-
age butterflies to visit.
The presentations start
at 10:30 a.m. and all ages
are welcome. Admission
to the Park is free for the
events, and refreshments
are served. To find out
more, visit www.pin-
erypark.on.ca.
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Dave Flaherty
QMI Agency
Throughout our lives, we
will all meet thousands of
people, but for the majority
of us none of them will save
our lives.
For several months, Don
Masse of Goderich was
unable to put a face and
name to the person who
did exactly that.
On Aug. 25, 2014, Masse
was out on an errand with
his wife Lorraine when he
decided to head back to his
Nelson Street apartment.
When he arrived at the
intersection of Victoria and
East Streets, he knew some-
thing was wrong.
Seeing a yard sale, he sat
down in a chair and called
out for help.
A few days later, he woke
up in Stratford hospital.
Don had suffered a heart
attack and was taken to
Alexandra Marine and
General Hospital and then
airlifted to Stratford.
It was due to the quick
actions of a young man at
the yard sale that Don
made it through the
situation.
Unfortunately, at the
time, no one was able to tell
Don who that young man
was.
After a few weeks, Don
and Lorraine admitted they
wondered if they would
ever solve the mystery.
Fast forward to Novem-
ber, when Lorraine was told
about an article in the Clin-
ton News Record regarding
a Dungannon resident
named James Boshart
receiving a Rescuer Award
from The Canadian Red
Cross.
"If I stopped the com-
pressions the man would
turn purple almost
instantly," Boshart said in
the Nov. 12 article. "Four
minutes or so seemed to
last forever, then the para-
medics arrived and I
assisted them with prepar-
ing him for the defibrillator
and told them what I had
done and what I knew."
After reading the article,
Don and Lorraine said they
were convinced James was
the man who had given him
CPR last summer.
After speaking with a
friend who recognized
James' last name, they were
able to get his number and
gave him a call.
"He said he had worried
all day and night about
what happened to Don,"
Lorraine said.
Sitting in the Masse's
apartment last week,
Boshart recalled the fateful
day.
He and his brother had
attended yard sales at the
same location before and
were looking for some deals.
"As soon as I got out of
the car, I saw him (Don) sit-
ting in the chair," he said. "I
figured I better go see if he
was alright!'
Boshart said he first
learned CPR in high school.
Despite the stressful situa-
tion - he noted everyone
around him was yelling in
his ear - he was able to
remember everything he
learned pretty easily and
help save Don's life.
He had asked the police
officer who took his state-
ment for Don's name but
was told due to confidenti-
ality reasons it could not be
disclosed.
He admitted he wasn't
told that Don was alive
until 6 p.m. that day which
caused him quite a bit of
stress.
"I was distracting myself
all day," he said.
As time went on, Boshart
too, thought he may never
meet the man who he
saved.
But last month, Don was
finally able to thank him in
person.
"It was a relief to see him
talking and smiling,"
Boshart said.
Coming out of all of this,
Boshart said he hopes his
situation may encourage
others to learn CPR and put
themselves in a position
where they could poten-
tially save a life.
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