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Youth grateful to be alive after near-drowning accident
By Staff reporter
He's lost 20 pounds and he breathes heavily after going up a flight of stairs, yet just the fact that he's here makes it hard to look at Riley Minue without smiling.
After nearly drowning in an accident that left him in a drug-induced coma for five days, 18-year-old Riley of Okotoks has surprised everyone by making, what doctors believe will be, a full recovery.
'Life is good,' said Riley, now back home after his 11-day hospital stay at the Foothills Hospital. 'I'm incredibly lucky that I survived.'
That he is. Both Riley and his mother, Brenda, agree that had it not been for an incredible string of miracles, the popular Foothills Composite graduate would not be here today.
'Miracle after miracle happened,' said the visibly grateful Riley, describing what his mother referred to as a ‘chain of survival'. 'So many things happened that saved my life.'
That chain of survival began with an accident the afternoon of Saturday, July 20 that nearly cost Riley his life.
While jumping into the Sheep River with friends, the champion swimmer somehow hit the water the wrong way. The force of the fall knocked Riley unconscious, causing him to breathe in a large amount of river water.
Unfortunately, many of the fine details may never be known. Riley cannot remember anything from that fateful day as a result of his injuries.
'We don't know what happened,' said Brenda, speculating that Riley may have been attempting a difficult ski-jumping manoeuvre into the water. 'Somehow he got knocked out and breathed in water.'
Gloria Miller, a woman who happened to be at the scene, saw Riley floating face down in the water. According to Brenda, she cried for help and pulled him out of the water, possibly with the help of other bystanders. Kelly Remple, another woman present at the time of the accident, performed CPR on Riley.
Neither woman was available for comment.
During this time, three different calls were made to the Okotoks EMS, each describing a different emergency — a drowning, a choking and a seizure. Because the drowning call was received first, STARS Air Ambulance was dispatched.
According to Brenda, this was a stroke of luck that may have saved Riley's life. Had either of the other two calls been received first, STARS would not have been sent out and Riley may not have made it to the hospital alive.
Brenda said that once Okotoks EMS arrived at the scene Remple had succeeded in getting Riley to breathe on his own.
Unfortunately, Riley had breathed vomit into his lungs, causing him to go into terrible combative seizures. Paramedics worked for 18 minutes trying to stabilize him, finally succeeding and transferring Riley by air ambulance to Foothills Hospital.
Unfortunately, at the time of the accident Riley's parents were camping in Kananaskis Country with friends and could not be notified.
Instead, Riley's aunt and uncle, Donna and Brad Meyers, were called. Once at the hospital, they received some terrible news.
'The doctors said that it wasn't good and they didn't expect him to survive the night,' said Brenda.
At this point the Meyers knew Riley's parents had to be notified as soon as possible.
By chance, Brenda, her husband Tim and the other campers had told a park ranger, Pat Ronald, the day before of their planned whereabouts the following day. Ronald happened to hear a message on his radio sent out by a family friend regarding the accident and immediately set out to find the campers.
'Everything goes through your mind,' said Brenda of the ensuing ride to the hospital after being given the bad news. 'You wonder if he's brain injured, has spinal damage. . . You find yourself praying and begging and hoping that he's okay.'
Once they arrived at the hospital, Brenda and Tim found their son in full cervical gear and hooked up to numerous tubes and equipment.
'We picked a bad time to walk in,' she said.
Riley had been put into a drug-induced coma upon arriving at the hospital and doctors were still not sure if spinal damage or brain injury had occurred. Worse yet, Riley's parents were told to expect things to get worse before they got better.
Unfortunately, the doctors were right.
During his third day at the hospital Riley went into Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. One of his lungs had collapsed, the other partially, and both were filled with water. Doctors were forced to punch a hole in the right side of Riley's torso to drain air between his lung and rib cage.
It wasn't until the fifth day that things finally began to look better. Up until that point, Riley had only been able to respond to others with hand-squeezes and eye-blinking. Overnight, however, one of Riley's nurses had reduced his medication, allowing him to wake up from his coma. Before long he was writing notes to his family on a white board and learning for the first time of the events leading up to his hospitalization.
'He was stunned to find out he'd almost drowned,' said Brenda.
Unfortunately, another setback occurred when complications required Riley to be put back into a coma. Nevertheless, he proved to be a fighter, often visibly trying to wake up.
'The nurses thought this was one tough kid because he shouldn't have been waking up at all,' said Brenda, noting that Riley's competitive swimming background may have provided him with the strong lungs and healthy body necessary to survive such a tragic accident. 'He kept fighting it tooth and nail.'
Eventually Riley continued to improve, regaining consciousness and strength. On Wednesday, July 31, Riley was sent home.
'I'm still tired and it's going to take a while (to fully recover), but considering the possible alternates, I can live with that,' said the young survivor, looking surprisingly healthy. 'It's definitely good to be alive.'
Riley stressed the crucial role CPR played in his survival, emphasizing the importance of CPR and first aid training.
'The biggest message is that anyone can go out and take CPR training, ' said Riley. 'I'm alive because somebody knew how.'
He also pointed out the enormous amount of support his family received throughout his recovery and is well-aware of the fact that his survival was a group effort.
'I'd like to thank everyone that came and visited me and said a prayer for me and thought about me,' said Riley. 'The staff of the hospital who worked around the clock to save me, my parents, friends and family. . .It was incredible. I'd like to thank them all.'
His mother couldn't agree more.
We had no idea how many people cared for our family,' said Brenda., describing the entire recovery process as a roller coaste ride.' 'Phone call after phone call — it just blew us away.'
As for the future, Riley admits that the accident has made him a little more philosophical.
'It's changed the way I think about life and religion. I'll be doing a lot of thinking now.'
Nevertheless, he insists his accident will not change any of his future plans. He still plans on taking the scuba diving lessons he always wanted and is currently planning a year-long trip to Australia in January.
'I'm not going to let this change my life and I'm definitely not going away from this with a bitter mindset at all,' said Riley. 'Things turned out for the better and that's awesome.'
LOST gray tabby female cat with white chest and paws. Last seen in the 100 block of Suntree Place on Aug. 6, 2002. Answers to Boo. Call 938-6839.
Riley Minue and his family credit the quick thinking of two women July 20 for saving his life. The women, Gloria Miller and Kelly Remple, pulled the unconscious teenager from the Sheep River and performed CPR, a skill his family believes everyone should learn.
- photo contributed
Foothills crop farmers get boost from the province during period of recovery
By Editor
Alberta's crop farmers have received a boost in the past few weeks from both the provincial and federal government.
Shirley McClellan, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, recently announced a Farm Income Assistance Program (FIAP) which will provide $324 million to Alberta farmers who have been suffering financially from drought conditions.
Central Alberta is currently experiencing a drought that is crippling crop yields and forcing livestock ranchers to sell off herds due to lack of grazing land and the relatively high cost of feed.
'Nearly three-quarters of our agriculture land is the driest it has been in 133 years,' McClellan said. 'The remainder of the land is still in a state of recovery from previous dry seasons.'
Southern Alberta crop farmers who are recovering after several years of drought conditions are also eligible to apply for FIAP money.
Agricultural, grain and feed crop farmers in the Foothills are seeing better yields so far this year but are still not back up to normal levels.
Jay Byer, an extension agronomist with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, said the effects of three exceptionally dry years will continue beyond this year.
'A good rule of thumb is that the recovery time will be as long as the drought,' Byer explained.
This year hay farmers around Okotoks have been getting around one tonne of forage from one acre of land — down from two tonnes per acre under good conditions.
'Your area had some snow and rain that helped get a start on the hay but past years have put stress on the crops,' Byer said.
Drought conditions in central Alberta and in the U.S. have also put a high demand on southern Alberta's feed crops.
McClellan acknowledged the crop shortfall in southern Alberta by making FIAP funds available for all Albertan farmers.
'We know that all of Alberta is suffering the effects of disastrous conditions that is also why our $324 million Farm Income Assistance Program is province-wide,' she said.
Funding is broken down to $7.15 per acre for cultivated annual crop land; $10 per acre for tame forage (cultivated hay and pasture); $4 per acre for fenced native forage (land not cultivated); $4.50 per beehive; 20 cents per square foot for covered crops (greenhouses, mushroom production); and $100 per acre for perennial horticulture crops.
Application forms will be sent to farmers who applied for FIAP assistance in 2001. Those who did not make a claim last year can pick up a form at the AFSC offices in Calgary at Suite 170, 6815-8 Street NE or in High River at 129-4th Avenue SW. Forms can also be downloaded off Alberta Agriculture's website found at www.agric.gov.ab.ca
Alberta Agriculture's Rural Services Division can be contacted by calling 310-000 and then dialing 780-422-9167 for more information on the FIAP program.
In addition to the FIAP the province is committed to contributing around $110 million to a recently announced federal program called bridge funding. The funding is part of a federal program that is looking into long-term solutions for farmers under the Agricultural Policy Framework.
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