WELCOME!!
to this week's meeting of
The Rotary E-Club of Canada One
For the week beginning February 27, 2023
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Rotarian Keith
Charlottesville, VA
My day started out just like any other day: get everyone out the door, walk the dog, and head off to the day's scheduled events. I had volunteered to work at Martha's Market, a local non-profit event to raise money for women's health in Charlottesville, Virginia. I was on the loading dock, helping the market vendors move into their booths. I stopped briefly to grab a sandwich and have a drink of water.
As I went to take a bite of the sandwich, somehow a piece of bread broke off, and I inhaled it. Fresh, sticky, whole wheat bread. I started to cough, and it wouldn't budge. In fact, when I tried to inhale, I sucked the bread in more firmly. And coughed more.
Soon, I was standing on the loading dock surrounded by a group of women. My face was red, and my eyes were watering. I was embarrassed, thinking, "Oh my heavens! This can't be happening to me. Everyone is staring at me!" I was wheezing, barely able to suck in any air. The noises I was making were scary ones, ones you don't normally hear people make. I could hear the conversations around me: "Is she ok?" "Is she just coughing or is she choking?" "If she's coughing it means she's getting air, just let her cough!"
I was getting in tiny sips of air- but then, I wasn't. I was completely blocked. I signaled, to the best of my ability, that there was no air. I sliced my hands in a hatchet motion across my throat. The air had stopped.
Christy W. shouted, "That's it! She's not breathing!" She swooped in, pushed everyone away, and grabbed me from behind. She performed the Heimlich maneuver, more than once, and she kept asking, "Can you breathe?" Finally, her efforts dislodged the bread. I sucked in a huge gasp of air, followed by explosive coughing - but I could breathe.
Christy stood there, shaking with adrenaline, and said, "I just completed my recertification two weeks ago. My company makes us do that every year. Are you OK? Do you need to sit down?" And I was OK. I was better than OK: I'd been rescued.
I was rescued by a woman who took her company's training seriously. She was terrified, but she didn't let that stop her from doing what she had learned to do. She watched me for clues to my condition. She didn't stand back; she jumped in and did what was needed.
How many of us think every day, at least once, that this could be our last day on this earth? I never did; I was busy living through each day. But now, every night, I think to myself, "I could have died today," and I smile in gratitude. And you can bet that I'm taking that training to pay it forward!
Originally published as HeroicStories #851 on Dec 26, 2014
Following are some of the comments we have received. Would you please send us your comments?
December 24. Another great meeting. Merry Christmas to all.
January 5. Love the humour in the Moth presentation in Blindside. Food insecurity is a reality for so many people today. Our monthly food challenge has garnered about $4,000 in donations over the past two months. Way to go folks!
-- Sharon Blaker, E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
December 25. The speaker makes a good point; positivity and love starts with self and spreads out. Also enjoyed learning more about speaking books and thought it was great that each one gets 120 uses!
-- Brenda Race, E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
The Key to a Good Simple Life. So true! And nice to see the club beginning so well in January!
-- Lynne Ternosky, Rotary Club of D6330 Passport
January 1. A very thought-provoking meeting. I am so glad I never had to go into an iron lung, a few minutes having an MRI seems an eternity.
-- David Werrett, E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
January 2. I LOVED the Navajo Solar Lights Project! I found the story about rope-making fascinating. And I enjoyed that there were a couple of opportunities to sing along :) I thought it was great!
-- Elizabeth Gaffney, Rotary Club of Stratford, District 6330
December 24. Another great meeting, Kitty.
January 2. Remembering Ian Tyson and for his many contributions to Alberta and Canada. We’ll miss him!
-- James Ferguson, E-Club of Canada One, District 5370
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Material Suggestions and Greeter Messages Always Needed!
Please feel free to forward an approx. 150 - 200 word message or any material suggestions in an e-mail, or in a Word document, along with a JPeg picture or two, to E-Club Administration Chair, Kitty Bucsko.
We'd love to hear from you!
Here’s a good story for the weekly meeting! Not a direct Rotary project, but a good local story from a RECCO member... Not really a ‘local’ service but highly relevant.
Jeff Sloychuk is a business agent for the Yukon Carpenter’s Union, and Ukrainian. He, and others, have been collecting things to bring over to Ukraine. His cousin is driving grain trucks back and forth from Poland to Ukraine, and since the truck goes back empty to pick up a load we know that donations will get to the right place.
Jeff sent me these pictures of surgeons picking through some of the $11,000 worth of surgical instruments I sent over. The local hospital has been mostly destroyed and they were pretty happy with the delivery. The guy in the middle is holding a Makita Bone Drill for placing pins in orthopaedic procedures. In the top picture, the guy to his left is holding a bunch of IM Pins that would be put in long bones with the drill.
We’re doing it again and already collecting. The blue jackets were from Yukon Energy and were from the Arctic Winter Games that never happened during Covid. They donated everything.
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