My Family is Crazy...in the good kind of way!!

My cousins in Canada have always been known to ski outside of the boundaries, if you know what I mean. Praise the Lord they are both ok. I know they will both be out doing something just as crazy, if not crazier, very soon.

Paraglider crash puts man in the woods for a night

James Weldon, North Shore News
Published: Sunday, November 02, 2008

A North Vancouver man was forced to spend the night huddled inside his paraglider in the woods north of Indian Arm after a mishap on take-off sent him hurtling into a rock face and left him unable to get back to civilization.

The man, in his 20s, was at the top of Mt. Bonnycastle about 15 kilometres north of the inlet on the afternoon of Oct. 26 when the accident occurred. He and his brother had travelled by boat and mountain bike and then by foot to reach the peak and paraglide from the top. The victim's brother took off successfully, but when the victim attempted to follow him, one of his ropes got tangled, sending him off course.

The man slammed into some rocks and tumbled to the ground, injuring his jaw and wrist and leaving him in shock. He radioed his brother, who had landed safely a significant distance away, and told him to get help.

Both men were out of cell range, so the uninjured brother set off southward to find coverage. Over several hours, he made his way to his bike, rode to the tip of the inlet, recovered their boat and piloted it south, all the while unable to make a call out.

While this was underway, the injured man recovered somewhat and scrambled down a scree slope to the edge of Barnes Lake, where, miraculously, he managed to get a signal. It was about 5:30 p.m. when the victim phoned 9-1-1, giving them a very brief rundown of his situation before the call was lost. The message was passed on to North Shore Rescue, who immediately launched a search.

Rescuers knew the man was north of Indian Arm, but they knew nothing about his injuries or precise location. Unable to reach his cell, they hatched a plan to search for the victim by helicopter.

But by the time a chopper had been scrambled, the light was already failing and the flight had to be called off.

Fortunately, at about 6:45 p.m., the team managed to get a call through to the victim. They established more clearly where he was, and talked the man through a self-assessment to determine the extent of his injuries. When it became clear the wounds were not life-threatening and that the victim was well-equipped, they advised him to stay put for the night. Not long after, the rescuers made contact with his brother, who was still making his way back down Indian Arm. They informed him the victim was fine and that help was on the way.

The injured man, who had come well prepared with a down jacket, toque and other clothing, wrapped himself in his parachute and settled in. At 4,000 feet above sea level, he was in for a cold night.

At first light, North Shore Rescue once again sprang into action. They called the victim once again, and a team piled into a helicopter and flew to his location. They located the man, loaded him into the vehicle, and transported him back to North Shore Rescue's Bone Creek Station.

There he was met by his brother and driven to Lions Gate Hospital. The man is expected to recover.

http://www.canada.com/northshorenews/news/story.html?id=3bab0b3a-b6b0-489e-8931-1b6d56a6085f

No Pulse, No Problem

Val Thomas’ doctors honestly can’t explain how she is alive today.

Thomas, who lives in West Virginia, is being called a medical miracle after she suffered two heart attacks and had no brain waves for more than 17 hours; reports NewsNet5.com.

Thomas’ heart stopped around 1:30 a.m. Saturday and doctors said she had no pulse. Rigor mortis started to set in, and she was placed on a respiratory machine.

“Her skin had already started to harden and her fingers curled,” Thomas’ son, Jim, told NewsNet5.com. “Death had set in.”

Thomas, 59, was rushed to a West Virginia hospital, where she was put on a special machine to induce hypothermia. This would allow her body to cool down for 24 hours before they would warm her up again, doctors explained.

However, Thomas’ heart stopped again after the procedure.

Her family said their goodbyes and Thomas’ tubes were removed, but she remained hooked on a ventilator as the possibility of organ donation was discussed.

However, Thomas woke up 10 minutes later and started talking.

“The nurse said, ‘I’m so sorry, Mrs. Thomas,’ and mom said, ‘That’s OK, honey, that’s OK,’” Jim Thomas said.

Val Thomas was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic so that specialists could check her out, but doctors said they could find nothing wrong with her.

“I know God has something in store for me, another purpose,” Val Thomas said. “I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure he’ll tell me.”

Fox News
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357463,00.html

God has a Sense of Humor

As their small plane, out of fuel and destined for a fatal crash, plunged towards earth the pilot told his passenger: "Pray - just pray!'"

So they desperately turned to God for deliverance - and landed safely beside a huge sign reading: Jesus is Lord.

Last night, passenger Grant Stubbs and pilot Owen Wilson were crediting divine intervention for what they said was a miraculous escape from what at what stage seemed like certain death.

"When you're in a microlight, if you crash, you usually die," said Mr Stubbs, who had taken off with Mr Wilson in the tiny two-seater plane from New Zealand's Marlborough Sounds district.

"The aircraft was coughing and spluttering as we headed towards a hill and Mr Wilson told me that for some inexplicable reason we had run out of fuel.

"So I said to him: 'What should we do?' And he said: 'You just pray, Grant.'"

As the now-powerless aircraft descended, Mr Wilson searched desperately for a safe landing area to glide to - and saw a strip of land. He was able to touch down without either man receiving a scratch.

Then, as they clambered from the plane, thankful that their prayers had been answered, they saw the 20ft-high sign telling them that Jesus is Lord.

"When we saw it, we both burst out laughing," said Mr Stubbs, who, admitted that, like Mr Wilson, they weren't particularly religious. Or at least they had not been up to that moment.

They had, in fact, landed on property owned by a Christian couple, who run a religious lodge, which explained the presence of the sign.

The two men, from the South Island town of Blenheim, had taken off on a birthday-treat trip for Mr Stubbs.

They flew over the spectacular Golden Bay and around the nearby rolling hills, but as they began climbing to clear a particularly steep hill, the microlight's engine began to cut out.

It was then that Mr Wilson realised they had run out of fuel, which surprised him because he had carefully calculated how much would be needed for the flight.

"We managed to splutter and cough up over a steep slope before the motor cut out completely at somewhere around 1500 feet," said Mr Stubbs.

"When Owen told me to pray, I really did pray to God to get us over the ridge and find us somewhere to land.

"We didn't want it to be the water or a hill. We just wanted a flat piece of land and by a miracle we spotted it and were able to glide down safely. Owen did a great job in getting us down"

After touching down it was almost like landing in heaven, Mr Stubbs said. Animals that live on the property came wandering over to greet them...wild horses, donkeys, deer, goats and emus.

"It was a powerful testimony," said Mr Stubbs. "We believe God didn't want us to check out yet."

The microlight does not have a petrol gauge but the pilot is able to see how much is in the tank, located behind the seats.

Just why they ran out of fuel is now being investigated by New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority.

By Daily Mail Reporter
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1020917/Pilot-doomed-aircraft-claims-passengers-prayers-helped-pair-land-safely.html