Harold Cox (left) returned to Oliver Arena in February to greet his fellow hockey players. Three week earlier he suffered a heart attack and was brought back from death by teammates who used an automated external defibrillator (AED) that was recently installed at the arena. Greeting him is Bryan Coles, one of the men who saved him. (Richard McGuire file photo)
The Osoyoos Coyotes started another remarkable playoff run, a longtime service club folded after 50 years of serving the community and a local senior talked about his remarkable recovery after suffering a massive heart attack while playing pickup hockey.
Harold Cox talked about his personal “miracle on ice” after recovering from a massive heart attack while playing pickup hockey in January.
Thanks to the quick actions of five players – including Jeff Crowley, Doug Hume, Marty Whiteman, Bryan Coles and Steve Arstad –and access to an automated external defibrillator (AED), Cox was brought back from sure death as the players used the AED to shock Cox’s heart and bring him back to life.
Two weeks after the frightening incident, Cox underwent successful triple bypass surgery at Kelowna General Hospital.
Cox decided to pay the boys a visit at the Oliver Arena in mid-February and thank those involved for saving his life and show his appreciation to all of the other players for their letters, cards and phone calls showing how much they cared.
Cox didn’t remember a thing in the minutes before suffering the heart attack and only remembers waking up to find his wife and two children at his bedside in hospital in Kelowna.
“I just can’t be more thankful for playing hockey with this particular group of guys and finding out everything they did to save my life and take care of me,” he said tearing up. “The timing of this is just incredible because if this hadn’t happened near these guys, they wouldn’t have been able to help me.
“This group has been so good to me from the day I joined six or seven years ago. I’m the second oldest guy out there, but they accepted me with open arms and they go out of their way to set me up so I can still score the odd goal or two.
“After hearing everything that happened that day, in my books these guys are heroes and there’s absolutely no question they saved my life. They acted quickly and did everything perfectly and brought me back. I will never be able to thank them enough.”
To show their thanks, Cox said he and his family paid for and donated two portable AEDS in Osoyoos.
In other news in February, the Town of Osoyoos council approved signing a new five-year contract with Destination Osoyoos (DO) to deliver economic development services to the town.
Council has also approved a deal that will allow Destination Osoyoos to continue collecting the two per cent Hotel Room Tax on behalf of local hotel and motel owners and be responsible for developing and delivering a destination marketing program that utilizes the Municipal and Rural District Tax (MRDT) that amounts to approximately $285,000 annually.
The agreement approved by the DO board and town council includes a five-year agreement with termination clauses included.
DO will be responsible for targeted service areas including economic development, resort municipality promotion, community development and visitor/community information.
Mayor Stu Wells said he wanted to clarify that DO will be responsible for destination marketing initiatives, but that it’s Osoyoos hotel and motel owners who collect the tax and determine exactly how they believe the money would be best spent in marketing this community across B.C. and across the country.
Meanwhile, the Osoyoos Coyotes started a remarkable playoff run in February that would see them reach the league semi-finals for the second consecutive year.
The Coyotes eliminated the Kelowna Chiefs, who finished ahead of them in the regular season standings, in four-consecutive games to move on to the division final against the North Okanagan Knights.
Coyotes’ captain Colin Chmelka was confident the team was capable of going on another extended playoff run.
“This is always the best time of the year,” said Chmelka, who led the Coyotes in scoring for the second-consecutive season. “We’ve played very well down the stretch and created the momentum we need to do well in the playoffs and now it’s time to pick up the intensity and play our best hockey of the season. We’re all really looking forward to another playoff run and hopefully to take one final step and go all the way to the championship series this time.”
After more than half a century of service to the community, the Osoyoos Lions Club announced plans in February to shut down.
“In a nutshell, our membership got down so far and the members are getting so old we just can’t handle things anymore,” said Lions President Brian Chadsey.
Recently the club has only had four members – Chadsey and his wife Margaret and one other couple.
“We tried everything we could think of to drum up new members,” said Chadsey. “The common response to asking someone was ‘I’ve done my volunteer work and I’m not interested.’”
There’s a process for disbanding the club, but Chadsey said the club was aiming to cease operations on April 1. The decision was made shortly after Christmas.
Over its history of just over 50 years, the Osoyoos Lions have contributed to building the Seniors Centre and developing Lions Park on the waterfront.
They regularly participated in community events by hosting pancake breakfasts during Easter Eggstravaganza and the July 1 Cherry Fiesta.
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