The story of my plane crash

My story: (I originally wrote this for a writing contest a couple of years ago.)

God’s Answer
It was a simple prayer, and straight to the point, "Rescue me before noon, or let me die!" I was 19 years old and this day and all it held for me had started me on one huge life changing experience. Thankfully, I knew God heard me and because of this I did not feel alone.

Our family went to church and as a child at the age of seven, I had prayed and asked Jesus to forgive my sin, and acknowledged that I would never be as good as He is and that I wanted to spend eternity with Him. Making this commitment to Christ put me on a path that was not free from trouble, but connected me with the One who would help me, comfort me and be with me through it all!

When I was a toddler my dad bought his first airplane. I grew up living in Northern Manitoba enjoying the freedom that flying brings.

At the age of 15, I went to Caronport High School, a Christian boarding school in Saskatchewan. The Northern community we lived in didn’t offer high school and so we had to go elsewhere. I graduated from Caronport in 1980 and continued there for another year in the Bible College program. In September 1981, I began a nursing program at the Thompson General Hospital. My life’s dream was to become a nurse and work in the North. I wanted to use my skills as a nurse, and also looked forward to spending time with the children in these communities, baking cookies, reading stories, valuing them! I wanted to share God’s love with them, without "officially" being a missionary and having to raise support.
The next winter I felt I needed a break from studying! On the last weekend of February every year, Caronport had an annual youth retreat called, "Youth Quake," I was determined to go and visit with my friends who were still students on campus. James, a friend from church, had his own plane and decided we could fly there for the weekend.

We flew there and had a wonderful time. The theme that weekend was "The Race of Life." Little did we realize what our race held for us.

En route home from the retreat, we refueled at Swan River. The air was crisp and cool, the sky was bright, but snow was starting to fall. I felt apprehensive as I trailed about six feet behind James and climbed aboard the low-winged Piper Cherokee, for the last leg of our journey home.

We chose to fly as the crow flies, across country from Swan River to Thompson. It was a shorter but more hazardous route than the one we had flight planned because it didn’t follow the road system. Twenty minutes after departing from Swan River, James and I flew into a "white out." We had just flown past two islands on Lake Winnipegosis and James was looking out the window instead of watching his instruments. Since I had grown up with a bush pilot for a father, I had learned the function of various instruments. I had noticed that the artificial horizon was doing funny things. I yelled, "James, watch your instruments! James! Watch your instruments!" Seconds later, the plane crashed onto the surface of the frozen lake.

Six hours later James woke up and weakly called my name. I came to and the first thing I thought was, "my mother’s going to kill me." My mother had a hard time letting me go with James. I was only nineteen and he was twenty-three. My parents thought that he was too young and inexperienced to take their only daughter hopping across the country.

We moved ourselves from the front to the back seats. James lifted my legs while I cried in agony. He dropped them again, that hurt worse! I screamed at him, "just do it! Do it!" He lifted my legs and I lifted myself into the back seat. My legs were stretched in front of me. James wanted me to move over so he could join me in the back seat for the long night ahead. It was weird to see my left leg conform to the pilot’s seat as I moved to my left. I had never had a broken bone in my life until today. It was wild!

James tried unsuccessfully to close the only door in the plane. We covered ourselves with a sleeping bag and talked about the conference we had just attended. We prayed together and talked some more. About midnight, James asked me for my gauntlets. I felt his icy hands and fear grabbed at my heart for him. I knew then that something wasn’t right. It was cold, yes, -21 Celsius, but my hands were warm, I was warm.

One thing I learned from growing up in the North, was if you have a survival problem, you must keep your head covered. They say that 80% of body heat is lost through the head. I kept covering James’ head and he would uncover it. James started slipping in and out of consciousness. It felt like the biggest fight in the world for me. A fight that was lost about 4:30 that morning.

I turned over and gave in to much needed sleep. It is hard to describe how I was feeling at that moment. I had lost a friend; I had failed to keep him alive until help came. I was a nursing student who just completed the unit on ‘death and dying’ with an A+, but lost in the real world. I was crushed. James’ race was finished here on the ice of Lake Winnipegosis. Would mine end here also?

I woke to another bright clear and cold day. James’ lifeless body was beside me, confining me to the small area I had been in for the last 14 hours. This is when I prayed to God to rescue me or let me die. I didn’t want to just sit there and sit there and sit there. Believe me, by this time I was bored. It is hard to explain this feeling any other way. I was alone, yet I knew God was with me. I waited, knowing and expecting my dad to rescue me. Waiting was very difficult, but I always had hope that things would be ok. Waiting was boring!

Around 11:30 I heard the familiar drone of the plane my father flies. I had a 12" by 12" piece of a space age tinfoil blanket, to help keep me warm. I stuck my arm out the glassless window and waved the foil. The plane circled three times and then landed.

This plane was not my dad’s. He was looking further North from where we were, closer to the filed flight plan.

The first man to the plane was James’ brother-in-law, Lorne. I joyfully exclaimed, "I have never been so glad to see anyone in all my life!" He asked, "Is James unconscious?"
"No, he’s dead," I replied.

Lorne stepped back, and the other men got to work right away. The plane was like a badly banged up tin can and it took little effort for the men to tear the roof off and lift me out into the Cessna 185. As I greedily demanded more coffee, we departed Lake Winipegosis for the safety of St. Anthony’s hospital in The Pas.
These four men who rescued me, were told by Canada’s Search & Rescue, not to come and look for me. These dear men ignored the order and had me to the hospital before Search & Rescue was even in the air that day.

This event had a huge impact on my life. I can now say I am a survivor. I have stamina. I spent 23.5 hours on a cold and frozen lake. I can say these things but it cost much. James’ life, my legs and right eye, my nursing career.

I am a better person for it, inside. I know what it is to look death in the face. I now see the beauty in the little things. I learned the value of relationship and to not waste time. Even my belief in God changed. I grew up attending church and Sunday school and from a very young age believed what the Bible said about Heaven and Hell. Up until the plane crash though, everything I believed about God I had inherited from my parents, and not because I chose it for myself. But many of the circumstances surrounding the crash reinforced in me the knowledge that God knows best, and that I can trust Him.

I am not a better person for it outside because of the damaged eye, the scars to my forehead, the loss of both legs below the knee, and the weight gain that comes from inactivity. I don’t like them. I can change only my weight and here I have had little success. Through it all, I know that God says I am valuable – not because of my outward appearance, but because of my heart and the changes He has brought.

Behind these clouds there is a silver lining.

During my time in Rehab and different visits back to the hospital I have had the pleasure of being an encouragement to others. Most often the amputee is an older person who has one limb off. They see me with both off and are inspired to press on.

People ask me if I can visit a friend or relative who has lost a limb too. In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, the Bible says, "We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Father who shows us loving kindness and our God who gives us comfort. He gives us comfort in all our troubles. Then we can comfort other people who have the same troubles."

In spite of not becoming a nurse, I have a connection with some patients. My desire to help and meet their needs can’t be satisfied as a medical professional but is as a peer who cares and really does know what they are going through.

God’s answer came that fateful day, March 4, 1982 via the rescuers, 11:30 that morning! The trust in God that was instilled in me by my parents carried me through this horrific time. No matter what we go through, no matter what the prayer, God does answer and we are never alone!

My dad passed away February 7, 2004

How do you condense 67 years of life into a eulogy?

Henri Jean Baptiste Thomas Fortin was born November 2, 1936 at South Knife Lake.

During his growing up years dad was taught by his father. He never had any formal education and yet he, as one Northern Affairs official stated, was a mechanical genius. At the age of 10 years old, dad could take apart an engine and put it back together. He learned so much growing up in the North. He learned how to hunt and fish and in turn shared those skills with his younger siblings and children. Aunt Marie told me, that she would chop wood, and as a real little guy dad would carry it piece by piece. From an early age he learned positive work ethics.

I remember him telling me that at the young age of 7 he would check the trapline by dogteam and he would be so exhausted he would fall into the sleigh and go to sleep and the dogs would bring him home.

His sisters and brothers were always watching, never really knowing what stunt Tom would pull next. He was such a big tease. Even the family cat enjoyed his cuddling until the cat realised dad had walked to the end of the dock and was about to drop it in the lake.

Another story I remember hearing was when Uncle Wilfred was on the beach and dad decided in his mischievous mind to run down and push him into the water. Aunt Bert was up near the house, saw what was about to happen and let out a yell, Wilfred moved, and dad tripped and ended up sliding out on the lake and sinking.

He was never short of antics! One story I remember him telling me was when his mother wanted the dogteam hitched. He had the idea to put some fast dogs on a fast sleigh, next thing he knew, his mom had gone very fast down the path, and coming around a sharp curve was hurled into the snow. Next thing he knew, his mom, wielding a frying pan, was chasing him! Of course he could outrun her.

After his father passed away dad moved the family to Churchill. He took on the responsibility of caring for his mother, brothers and sisters.

In 1959, he met my mother and they were married on December 27, 1960. During these early years dad worked as a garbage collector for the Department of Public Works, as a mechanic in 1959 for COMSTOCK, For the Department of National Defence as a driver and then he won a millrite competition.

During this time he also built a house for us. He did all the carpentry, built the cupboards, all the woodwork, the electrical and plumbing. He put in the furnace and heat ducts, a flush toilet, running water and a bathtub. Not many homes in Churchill could boast all this!

He not only had an aptitude for electrical and plumping, but also was a mechanical genius. He had changed my grandma's car from a standard to an automatic! He was a really smart guy!

He also had a love of flying and during these early years took his pilot's license. He had this in 1963-64 and soon after purchased his first plane. (Stinson, CF-EYD.)
By this time my brother Eric was born, missionary neighbour’s we had, George and Bessie McPeek, told of one occasion mom was away and dad was caring for Eric and me. They invited us for supper and I could feed myself, but dad fed Eric. George recalled dad saying, "Here have a bite, ok, have a drink and wash it down... Here have a bite, ok, have a drink and wash it down." Dad loved his children.

He also told of a number of times when those fledgling missionarie’s oil in the furnace was either too thick for the furnace to work or the oil had run out. Dad would go in the wee hours of the morning to get it started again. He was always helping missionaries.

The next one on the scene was Keith, born in 1967. In 1969, Dad decided to move south to Thompson and was hired by INCO as a first class mechanic. It was not long and dad was working as a foreman. People recognised dad's ability to see a problem and see the solution to the problem.

During all the years since he had his pilot's license, dad was motivated to help missionaries. John Goodrich, a missionary with Continental mission said, "Tom was a very good friend; he let us use his plane many times. He flew for Continental Mission on a number of occasions. I had many good times with Tom. He died doing what he liked to do - hunt."

He would also fly people from the Gideon's to deliver Bibles to places like Thicket Portage. Dad never stopped helping missionaries. One time dad was flying, and he had a passenger from Winnipeg, the man asked, "Who has the map?" Dad's answer? "Who needs a map?" He could fly all over the North without using a map.
Helping missionaries didn't stop at just flying, but he helped Bud Elford with translation of New Testament books of the bible, and also he translated half of the hymns in the Déne hymnbook into Déne. One of his favourite being, "How Great Thou Art."

Dad was such a hard worker, that in Thompson, he decided in addition to his job, to start a business called, "Tom's Appliances." After work and on his days off, he would repair other people's washing machines, dryers, furnaces, and stoves.

In 1971, my youngest brother Mark was born. Dad would take us skidooing, out for wiener roasts, berry picking, and in Churchill years before, whale watching. As a family we went on a canoe trip from Setting Lake to Ospewagon Lake.
He was a real outdoorsman and loved doing things with his children. He would fly us to bible camp in the summer. Instead of us having to take the train and long boat trip to Midway Bible camp.

In 1974, Dad won a competition with Northern Affairs to be the town supervisor of South Indian Lake. The family moved there in 1975. It was a real outdoors experience. The boys got in more hunting and fishing with dad. I remember going with him in his Cessna 180 and he let me take off and fly. The time spent in South Indian Lake was special although dad worked even harder there.

I remember when I went away to Caronport High School, he wrote me a couple of letters, but he would send me dried caribou meat, while my classmate’s parents were sending them cookies! He wrote in his letter how much he missed my cooking. I remember when I would make cake donuts, he used to love that!
And he continued to help missionaries. Judy came to South Indian Lake as a Baptist Missionary with Baptist International Missions Inc. That is when our family first met Judy.

On November 23, 1986 dad divorced mom, on December 26, 1986 he married Judy.

Almost a year later, Mary came into the world. Two years later, Amy came into the world.

Dad had bought property in Grandview and moved his new family to Grandview. He still had good contact with my brothers.

It took me almost 5 years for God to work in my heart to come to a place where I could accept what happened. Dad was sensitive to my feelings and continued to "be there" for my special days. He wasn't one to easily say, "I love you." But he made an effort to be at all my graduations, from Caronport High School and Briercrest Bible College, to my BA degree from the U of M, and in 2001, from a Bachelor of Social Work degree at the U of M. He also attended my wedding.

One year after our wedding, dad visited us at the Holiday Inn, and after a good conversation with my husband and I, decided that we needed to be friends and start with a clean slate.

Last year, I wrote him a letter from America, where my husband was working for 4 months. I expressed to him, things he did that hurt me, and also things he did that helped me. I learned stick-to-itivism, and I learned to work hard, even though it was a different kind of work. I have many characteristics that are like my dad, some good and some not so good.

I suppose the stubbornness characteristic is most like him, in me. It stood me in good stead when I was a passenger in a plane that crashed. Dad helped to look for me, and found me in The Pas hospital. I remember him holding my hand, telling me not to talk so much, and telling me, "I love you" for the first time in my memory. I always thought he loved the boys more.

Reconciliation is a wonderful thing. The last time I spoke with my dad was almost three weeks ago. He was in a coffee shop, and he said, "Love you" and my response was, " love you too."

The thing that this reminds me of the most is, Ephesians 4:20-27. (The Message)

But that's no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. What this adds up to, then, is this: no more lies, no more pretense. Tell your neighbor the truth. In Christ's body we're all connected to each other, after all. When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.
Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry—but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don't stay angry. Don't go to
bed angry. Don't give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life.

It was so good, and it was too short. We were friends. And I loved him.

After questioning different family and friends these are the one or two word answers I received.

What made Tom special?

• He was smart
• A big tease
• A sense of humour
• Showed a concern for others
• Conscientious worker
• Anything he did he could do well
• Good at cheering people up
• Made others feel welcomed
• Very versatile

His talents?

• Mechanical genius


• Translator


• He had many talents!


• Flying and not getting lost!
  
• Fixing anything mechanical, electrical etc.
  
  Dad was even a hero. He rescued different people in different situations that I don't know the details of, but one story I remember was of someone who was overweight when he got lost, and when dad finally located him, that man's belt had lots of space!
  

What little characteristics did dad display?
* He used to tug on my hair
* He gave whisker rubs
* Playfully choked
* Always would tuck Mary's hair behind her ears. Mary says it must be a family trait because Uncle Wilfred did that to her also.

• Dad faced challenges in his life and over came them.
• He had no formal schooling but excelled in anything he put his heart and mind into.
• My plane crash was a trying time for my family.
• Didn't like Polar bears, or any kind of bears really.
• He Didn't like the city.
• Probably his biggest challenge was the fight with the Manitoba Government and the highways department. This fight caused him a lot of stress as he put so much into it, only to be screwed by the Manitoba Government.
  
  He even faced discrimination from bankers. I remember once when he went to try and get a bank loan and they wouldn't give it to him, and mom went and she got it.
  
  Where/when was he happiest?
  When we were young children, we went on picnics and whale watching, skidooing, picking berries, fishing and flying.
  When he was story telling. He always loved telling a good story.
  
  What gave him pleasure?
  His children and grandchildren
  His work, flying and hunting
  Music, he loved singing and fiddle music
  Festival de Voyageur
  

How did I feel about dad?

• I was proud of him, and of all he accomplished
• I loved him
• He was special
• He was looked up to, an example
• Colleen said he was like a second father to her
• Mary says he was her best friend

How would Tom like to be remembered?

• By the way he was
• As a simple man who tried to do what was right
• Honest in business
• A man of integrity
• Good provider
• Hard worker
• Helpful
• A blessing
• Friendly and kind
• Story teller
• Family man
• Outdoorsman

My dad's life was not a wasted one. He didn't sit on the sidelines and let it pass him by. He was active; he loved life. He loved…

Our Christmas letter 2005

Christmas letters…. I have been putting off writing this for far too long, we’ve had several letters already from Canada, and I know this will be late. Maarten and I have been married 1626 days today.

One of the reasons that this has been so difficult for me is, on August 7, I heard that my Aunt Lorraine was very sick. She had a whipple operation in January 2004, and seemed to recover from it. I guess in March this year she started having pain, and has been in the hospital since June. She is in her last days, and I find myself wishing God would take her, if only to relieve me of my suffering, grieving for her. I know life isn’t fair, but here was a woman who spent her life working so hard to provide for others and care for others. She was my biggest fan. Maarten and I received many cards, and little surprise packages since I have been married and living here. I think one of my favorite presents, was a sign for our garden (I am sure it was meant for Maarten!) It reads, "Don’t just stand there, WEED!" My aunt was an avid gardener. I bought a willow tree angel called Angel of the Garden, to remember her by. It is sitting on my table. My heart still mourns the loss of her, and I have had such a difficult time asking God why does it have to be this way? I know he can heal her….

Our year has been one of ups and downs. Maarten’s year began with 2 operations, the second only because the first was not done properly enough. This required a hospital stay, which he hated. He has had a couple trips abroad, one to America again for a ship, his last trip was 11 days in Spain. He got an MP3 player for his birthday in April and he loves it! Going back and forth to work on his bike (even in wet and windy weather) takes quite some time and is made pleasurable with music. He has been busy with making websites. He made one for a mission organization called Children Asking and you can look at the site, http://www.childrenasking.org/ the Dutch site is only working at the moment and the English site is in the works, hopefully it can be done in the new year. The other site he did was for a friend of ours from church. She started a breakfast service, so now people can look online and see what she offers, the cost and of course they can order breakfast to be delivered for a special occaision! I was feeling a bit like a widow during the months that Maarten worked on these sites, it was 2 and a half months on the one for Children Asking. The breakfast site took him 35-40 hours. But when you are working full-time, and then you come home, eat supper and sit at your computer till 1:00 am there is not much left over for the mrs. (ME!)

My year has been spent with Dutch lessons, phsyio (and lots of it), I lost 8.6 kilos and found them again sometime after Easter. I’m feeling a failure these days, especially with this never ending battle over what is good for me, and what isn’t. The doctor is suggesting a "magband" which doesn’t make me very happy at all. I have been enjoying doing scrapbooking, although it makes me sad when I see all the photos and feel very homesick for home and family.

I made a friend, she came to the Netherlands from the Dominican Republic on April 30 to marry a Dutchman on May 18, and I crashed her wedding just so I could meet her. She is a lovely Christian girl named Minerva, and we have become good friends in her short stay here. She speaks 5 languages already, and now is hard at work learning Dutch. We pray together every Tuesday morning and that has been a special answer to prayer for me. We have seen some amazing things already… One friend of ours became a Christian when I was still in Canada this summer, anyway, he was baptized last Sunday, December 4th, and he wanted his parents to attend. They are the type of people who never darken the door of a church. We were praying for them, and the evening before the service, they changed their minds and they were in church on the Sunday. It was so amazing!

Our visitors this year…. Angie in March, a friend from England! She came to visit and keep me company while Maarten was away overseas. It snowed that week, and we had fun biking in the snow!
Audrey in April – she came from Ladysmith, British Columbia and we enjoyed her visit so much.
Theresa & Meghan in May – two Canadian girls out to see the world! We felt a bit like parents worrying over our children… they pitched in and helped with gardening and dishes. They were great houseguests and would be welcome anytime!
Dr. & Mrs. Kati in November – It was less than 24 hours and was just too short…. Although the shortest visit has to be from my youngest brother Mark. Mark came in July, we picked him up at the airport, which is 100 km from our house. He then had a shower, ate some breakfast with us, we went for a bike ride to see a little of Ambacht, and 2 hours and 45 minutes later, a friend was here to drive us back to the airport to see him off again. We wish people would come and stay a little longer….

Well, I have one happy thing to tell you…. I won a toaster this year, actually I won two things. The toaster was from Philadelphia Cream Cheese. The other thing I won was a "wijn proeverij avond." That was a very interesting evening. A lady came with 9 bottles of wine, and I had invited guests, and we tasted the wine with things she brought to eat, like strawberries, cheese, pate & bread. I had made a pumpkin cheese cake for the evening too. It was a lovely evening and before it happened we had no idea what to expect – it was a learning experience. Just for your information, she also brought buckets for spitting in, so no one left walking funny!
Our summer vacation this year started with an 11-hour wait at the Toronto airport to catch our next flight to Halifax, that was horrible. (Especially having already flown into TO from Amsterdam!) We had a lovely tour of the East Coast with a tour company called Salty Bear Adventure Travel. We got to go canoeing, and we saw a beaver dam – we had raspberry pancakes with chocolate inside…. So yummy! We visited Peggy’s Cove and then the memorial site for Swissair flight 111. We visited Mahone Bay, Lunenberg and other little places up the South Shore. We stayed the night at an old farmhouse in Annapolis Royal. They say it is the oldest permanent settlement in Canada.

On our 6-day tour we went 2 different directions, the first 2 days we went to the aforementioned places, we returned to Halifax and then with a different tour driver, we went to Cape Breton Island along the Cabot Trail. We went whale watching, then from Pictou, NS by ferry we went to PEI, and Charlottetown, saw Province House, where Canada was born, stayed the night at University of PEI, the following day we visited Cavendish, the home of Anne of Green Gables. When leaving PEI we crossed the Confederation Bridge, opened in 1997, spans 12.9 km across the Northumberland Strait. It connects with New Brunswick and then within a half-hour, you are back in Nova Scotia.

We also enjoyed our time touring Halifax, although I had previously visited the city, I forgot that they had hills – boy do they have hills! Poor Maarten had to hold on tight to my wheelchair going downhill, and going up, well that was a struggle too. We spent most evenings in an Irish Pub for supper, the music was live and mostly excellent. We stayed at a Hostile for most nights in Halifax, that was a new experience for us – but it worked out well. We visited the Maritime Museum, which was a great place! We had a ride on the Harbor Hopper, a great big green amphibious vehicle, which not only goes through the streets of Halifax telling about the city, but also drives down into the harbor to give us a view from the water! Was very exciting for us! I suppose Maarten’s favorite place was visiting Alexander Keith’s Brewery, the tour was done as if we were there 142 years ago, they dressed in period costumes, sang period songs, and danced whatever jig was hot at the time! It was very impressive and well worth the time and effort to see this part of history.

All in all our 10 days on the East Coast was the highlight of our year. It was on our last day that I found out how sick my aunt was, and then all joy left me. I’ve been told it will return… but it is difficult to be joyous when someone I love dearly is in such a state, and I am so far away. When I heard the news, I wanted to go right away to her, but Maarten is not so fond of hospitals, so instead we went to Thompson and spent our time with family. We returned to Winnipeg for Maarten to fly back to Holland, and then I went with my mom’s youngest sister, to Saskatchewan where we visited my aunt on a daily basis, but even then she was in so much pain, you couldn’t sit and visit. I returned to Thompson by VIA rail, which was a 14-hour trip. I stayed 9 more days, returning to Winnipeg, and then flying back to the Netherlands. It was so hard to leave. Even now I wish I were in Canada, even though there is nothing I can do to help.

Thankfully we know that one day, when death separates us here on earth, we will be together again. That is the hope that we as Christians have. Thankfully Jesus was willing to come to earth as a little baby, during this time of Christmas we celebrate that coming! What a world we would live in if he hadn’t chosen to come! This world seems to be getting worse and worse with so many things happening effecting countless numbers… One day, when the rapture happens…. What a day that will be!

Yes, I know in Philippians 4:4 it says, "Rejoice in the Lord, always, and again, I say, Rejoice!" Sounds like a command to me, and not a, "If everything’s going well, and you feel like it, Rejoice…" I don’t feel like it, but I must!

Blessings on you this Christmas, and always. Linda for us both….. (I hogged all the space!)