‘He died doing something he loved’
Maurice Jordan was on hunting trip with his nephew when their snowmobile broke through ice
Maurice Jordan, 45, of Ferryland, loved hunting, he loved to explore and he loved his family.
When he and his nephew, Blake Williams, 24, of Bay Bulls, left on a hunting trip on Wednesday morning, he didn’t know it would be his last.
Cecelia Jordan, Maurice’s sister, says the family is trying to find comfort in the midst of a tragedy.
“He was 45 years old, he died doing something he loved. There’s something to be said for that,” Cecelia said Thursday.
“I work in the emergency room and I see a lot of really sad deaths and people that are prolonged for months and months and months. You know, he died doing something he loved. It wasn’t a good scenario, of course. For Blake, who was with him, I can’t even imagine how that went. We are thankful to have Blake with us.”
Cecelia says the tragedy is made all the worse when taken with another tragedy her family suffered in 2013.
“He was well known and wellloved around the Shore. We’ve got a big family and we’ve been down this road already before with our brother that drowned in a kayak,” Cecelia said.
Ambrose Jordan — Cecelia and Maurice’s brother and Blake’s father — died in 2013 on a turr hunting trip off the coast near Ferryland.
In this case, Cecelia says it is a comfort that Maurice’s body was found. Ambrose’s body was never recovered from the North Atlantic.
“It’s so amazing to have the body recovered, you have no idea,” she said.
At 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Maurice and Blake were travelling near Mobile Big Pond on a snowmobile and an all-terrain vehicle. The pair got on the snowmobile together to cross the pond, when the ice gave way. Blake was able to escape from the chilling water, but his uncle was not so lucky.
Blake scrambled to safety after losing his boots and jacket, and walked two to three kilometres across the pond in blowing snow and found a cabin.
He was able to start a small fire to try to warm up, when the cabin’s owner happened by to check in. The cabin owner called for help for the young man. At noon, the RCMP responded to the scene.
Blake was taken to hospital and is recovering. He spent his 24th birthday with family and friends at the Health Sciences
Centre in St. John’s.
Maurice’s body was recovered after a search by members of the Avalon North Wolverines Search and Rescue, Rovers Ground Search and Rescue and the Ferryland RCMP, and residents who live nearby.
The use of helicopters was donated by Universal Helicopters and Cougar Helicopters to help search the area and break up some of the ice.
Maurice is survived by his wife and three children.
Clothing lost in the struggle served as a marker to where
the incident occurred, according to RCMP Cpl. Danny Williams. Jordan’s body was found under the ice just a few metres away from the snowmobile.
Members of the Jordan family came home from across the country when news of the tragedy broke. They flew in from British Columbia, Calgary, Ontario and Yellowknife to be with one another in the wake of the incident.
A group of 5 to 10 locals assisted in the search from the moment it was called until Maurice’s body was found. Williams said the local people’s
knowledge of the difficult geography surrounding the pond was invaluable to the search.
Cecelia Jordan says her family can’t thank the volunteers enough for their efforts.
“It’s a stressful event, of course, the loss of someone so young and such a great guy. We’re so thankful for all the volunteers and everyone who has come here. It’s been instrumental, the power of the volunteers. I can’t even express how thankful we are,” Jordan said.