Oh my gosh, what a wonderful surprise to sit down to this forum and find this. I am in tears. THANK YOU to all of you for your thoughts and prayers.
Yes, this is a very difficult time for us, and especially my sister. I got the call early Saturday evening. It was a call from my sister's home, but when I answered, it was Dan, their neighbor. I immediately knew something bad had happened, and quite truthfully, I expected he was calling me with bad news of my sister.
The message I received was that Tom (my brother in law) had been in an accident at work. He works away from home...10 days there, then home for 4 days as a general contractor on a Reserve. He had just gone back to work Thursday for the first time since the holidays. I immediately thought he had a fall or a heart attack or something. I was just sick when he told me Tom had been operating the groomer, making winter ice roads for the residents of the remote (fly in only other than ice roads in the winter) community, when the groomer went through the ice. I quickly threw a few things into my luggage and immediately left to make the trip down to go be with my sister. Needless to say, she was devastated, and making it even tougher on her, was that he still remained under the ice. They knew he had not gotten out, as there were no tracks coming out from the hole to show he had managed to crawl out. No one knew if he had gotten out of the cab and was loose under the ice somewhere, or if he was still in it. The dive team had to come from Orillia, which is about 1800 km away. They were to fly in, but could not dive after dark, so he had to remain in the water, unfound all night, and of course, even though we all knew he had most assuredly drowned, the knowing no one was getting him out, and the feeling that "they were just leaving him in there" was really eating at her, adding to her pain. The next day, there were more delays due to flights, crew problems, and fog, but they did finally recover his body. He was still in the cab. (thankfully, and what we were all hoping for since had he not been in it, there was a strong possibility that he may not have been recovered until Spring, when the ice melted and the body washed up somewhere) It took them only 4 minutes to get him out, and they felt he had unsuccessfully tried to get out because the door was wedged open some, but because the water was so shallow, (only about 12 feet deep where he went through) the blade/front end of the machine was still a little out of the water, it was hung up on the ice, jarring the door, and preventing it from totally opening to allow him out.
We are having such a hard time, just imagining the terror of what his final moments on earth must have been like for him, and this is what will haunt us all and making it even that much more difficult. I stayed with her for 3 days, but came back home late this afternoon for a couple of days, and we'll return Friday. His funeral is Saturday. He was so well liked and respected by the members of the reserve where it happened, that they called and asked Shelly if she would allow them to fly his body in for a wake to give their members a time to mourn his passing as well, but she respectfully declined, as he was being cremated. She has however, offered to send part of his ashes to them to allow them to have a traditional type ceremony there for him, since very few members will be able to make it to Kenora for the funeral. They have planned a January 18th service for him in their community. The police told my sister that they had never seen such a send-off for a non-band member. They delayed the flight out, as they gathered around the plane offering up traditional native songs, drums, smoke et. in his honor. The detectives and all involved with the investigation were all so touched by this as they had never witnessed such a thing for a non-native.
Tom was 52 years of age and was a VERY kind man, and would do just about anything for anyone, and will be soooooo missed by sooooo many. My heart just breaks for my sister and it sickens me to know I cannot take away her pain. We were just saying a couple days before this, how both her and I felt like we actually enjoyed a more normal Christmas season this year, actually looking forward to it again for the first time in a long while, and now that will be gone for her again. They lost Tom's Mom in December 2009, we lost our Mom in November 2010, and our Stepdad, late October 2011. We were happy to have made it through the holidays this year, but only a couple days after that conversation took place, now she has lost Tom too. I just cannot imagine the pain she must be feeling.
Sorry for rambling...I know it is very personal, but I guess it helps to heal a little too when we can share with others. Thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, and again, thank you to all. (((HUGS))) Thanks for ears, the shoulders and the hearts and hugs.
