THANKING HIS LUCKY STARS
Brian Smith speaks about surviving a skydiving accident with the help of STARS during a news conference at Edmonton International Airport Friday. Ottawa is spending $65 million on five new helicopters to update the rescue service’s aging fleet.
Brian Smith credits STARS Air Ambulance with saving his life after a skydiving accident over a decade ago.
For his 50th birthday 14 years ago, Smith checked skydiving off his bucket list at a facility in Westlock. The thrill of the dive had Smith booking another opportunity to jump during the July long weekend.
This time, however, there was trouble with his parachute coming down. He hit the ground at between 30 and 40 kilometres an hour.
“As I was falling, my brain said, ‘If I run, I can tuck and roll because you see it in movies all the time,’” said Smith.
“I lifted my feet to run and landed on my tail bone and I heard pop, pop, pop in my ears.”
Smith broke a vertebra, which also became stuck in his spinal cord.
Within two minutes of Smith hitting the ground, STARS was called.
Smith was flown to hospital and after 13 days of laying in a coma, he had surgery on his spine. Doctors inserted two six-inch steel rods in his back and was told he would never walk again.
“The only reason I am standing here today is that helicopter and that crew,” said Smith.
Smith told his story — standing with no wheelchair in sight — to a crowd gathered at the STARS Air Ambulance hangar at the Edmonton International Airport Friday morning.
There, Ralph Goodale, federal minister of public safety and emergency preparedness, announced STARS is receiving a one-time $65-million investment to purchase five new H145 helicopters to replace some in the existing fleet of nine. Each helicopter costs about $13 million.
Most of the helicopters in the aging fleet are more than 30 years old and they have flown over 40,000 combined missions since STARS’ inception in 1985.
The need to replace the fleet has been a long time coming and this bump from Ottawa advances the timeline significantly, said Andrea Robertson, CEO and president of STARS.
“At the end of the day, it allows us to continue to do what we do 365 days a year, 24-7,” she said.
Operating costs for STARS continue to be funded through donations and the annual STARS Lottery.