You Never Know What The Day May Bring

Thursday July 5th started off no differently than any other day. My family and I, who were vacationing in the Bahamas were spending the morning snorkeling with sea turtles, when my daughter Alicia suddenly told me she heard someone yelling for help. I brought my head up from the water and told her to make sure that is was not somebody fooling around. After listening myself, I also heard the cries for help and saw a man struggling in the water.

I quickly looked around, saw that there was no lifesaving equipment and no one else to help. As the adrenaline kicked in, I set out to help the man who was quite some distance from me. As I reached the man, my lifeguard training from some 45 plus years ago also kicked in. I could tell that he was panicking not only by his voice and obvious screams for help, but also by how tense his body was. One of the lessons that I remembered from my lifeguard days was that you never faced the individual you are saving and I was able to help him to turn around and lie on his back. I put my arm across his chest, tried to get him to relax, and safely pulled him to shore. Upon finally reaching the shore, the man and his wife shook my hand and repeatedly thanked me.

It all happened quite quickly and, oddly, I never even got the person’s name. What I did get, however, was a slight pull of the muscle in my groin clearly indicating I am not quite as fit as I used to be when lifeguarding.

Saving that man’s life felt very rewarding and I was glad I was there to help out. I am sure the people in London Health Science Centre Trauma Program feel the same way when they save someone’s life. While I don’t wake up every morning thinking today I am going to save somebody’s life, I’ve come to realize that for the nurses, doctors and other health care professionals who work at LHSC trauma program that is par for the course.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Trauma Golf Classic. When I originally started this tournament, my ultimate goal was to raise one million dollars to support LHSC’s trauma program. Amazingly, if we have a good tournament this year, that “pie in the sky goal” will be reached.

This year our Golf Classic also included a gala event that included guests Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, our own Canadian Olympic figure skating champions. The golf tournament itself will be held at Riverbend Golf Course on August 9th. Between those two events, we hope to meet, and maybe even exceed the million dollar target.

I just want to thank in advance all of the people that have been involved in making the tournament so successful and helping to reach that one million dollar goal. I would like to particularly thank our sponsors who give willingly to the event and without whose support we would never be able to reach our goal. I would also like to thank the people that have been involved in the golf committee who help to make it a success. I would especially like to thank my clerk, Shawn Smith, who has worked with me on this tournament from day one and who I can always count on to do everything necessary to make the actual event go flawlessly.

If you are reading this blog, you too can help save a life by making a donation to the LHSC trauma program at traumagolfclassic.com.