Osoyoos firefighters turn their hoses on a burning house at the corner of 87th Street and 92nd Avenue last January. They foamed the next door house to stop the fire from spreading. An Osoyoos woman lost her life as a result of injuries suffered in the fire. (Richard McGuire file photo)
A tragic house fire that claimed the life of an Osoyoos woman and the miraculous recovery of an Osoyoos senior whose heart stopped while playing pickup hockey made headlines last January.
A group of hockey players rallied together to save the life of Harold Cox after he suffered a massive heart attack at the Oliver Arena last January 17.
“He was dead,” recalled teammate Jeff Crowley, who was one of five fellow hockey players who worked as a team to save Cox’s life by using an automated external defibrillator (AED), a device that shocks the heart back into rhythm.
Crowley said he knew right away that Cox likely suffered a heart attack when the 72-year-old went down.
So he immediately asked someone to call 911 and grab the AED in the arena office.
He admitted they didn’t really know what they were doing, but the AED, which has a voice activation feature, basically talked them through the procedure.
Crowley recalled Cox’s whole body reacting to the jolt of electricity. The man then started breathing and his pulse returned.
“He came back to life … it was amazing,” Crowley said.
Fellow player Marty Whiteman said it happened so fast that it was all a “blur” to him.
Doug Hume began administering CPR, while Bryan Coles opened the defibrillator and followed the instructions.
After the shock button was pressed, Cox responded immediately.
Whiteman will never forget the moment Cox came back to life. There was so much relief that everyone involved let out a collective cheer.
Fellow player Steve Arstad admitted the incident came as a shock to everyone.
Arstad said the AED was instrumental in reviving Cox, adding having these devices in public places is a great idea.
He couldn’t say enough about everyone who worked hard together during a time of immense tension and pressure.
Each year, up to 40,000 Canadians experience sudden cardiac arrest and as many as 85 per cent occur in public places or in the home.
Also in January, an Osoyoos woman rescued in a horrific house fire died a couple of days later in hospital in Vancouver.
Deylene Ruth Hebert Hunter, 52, and her friend Sheldon Hall, were rushed to hospital with severe burns after fire engulfed their duplex in Osoyoos .
This is believed to be the first fatality from a fire in the Town of Osoyoos in more than 20 years, said Osoyoos Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Jones.
“I know of only a couple (fatalities caused by fire in Osoyoos) and the last one was when I was a very young firefighter back in the late 1980s,” he said. “It has been a very long time.”
Hunter was survived by her father Henry Hebert and her three sisters.
An obituary forwarded by her family to the Osoyoos Times said Hunter possessed “a zest for life and contagious smile and will forever live on in our hearts.”
Jones said a dozen volunteer firefighters responded to the 9-1-1 call immediately and did an incredible job bringing the fire under control as quickly as possible.
Hunter and Hall were rushed to the South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver.
Both were brought by air ambulance to hospital in Kelowna and Hunter was then flown to the burn unit at a hospital in Vancouver.
Henry Hebert , the father of Deleyne Ruth Hebert Hunter, said he took strength from the fact he believes his daughter has gone to a better place.
“I know from experience that she has gone to a beautiful place,” said her father,
“I had a near death experience about 15 years ago from a serious car accident. I was told by doctors that I had died for a few minutes before coming back and I remember seeing all those beautiful images when you go to the other side.
“I have no doubt my daughter is in heaven and at peace as she’s with her mother and her husband Marshall, who passed away about four years ago.”
In other news, Plenary Justice was selected as the company that won the contract to build the new $200-million South Okanagan Correctional Centre just north of Oliver.
The prison will cost approximately $200 million to build. The Ministry of Justice expects to start filling the 378-unit facility in the fall of 2016.
Construction on the huge project began in early fall.
Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells said Osoyoos town council had been a solid backer, booster, and supporter of this project since its inception.
“This project is a real shot in the arm to the whole South Okanagan,” said Wells. “I don’t see a negative for anyone, even the inmates. Who wouldn’t want to spend more time in the beautiful South Okanagan?”
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