Into the Abyss (21 page)
Authors: Carol Shaben
Larry Shaben and Paul Archambault enjoy a cigarette together during a break in the crash inquiry proceedings. (
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Paul Archambault (standing) poses for the cameras next to Erik Vogel during the 1985 Canadian Aviation Safety Board crash inquiry. (
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The survivors together at the Canadian Aviation Safety Board inquiry for the first time since the crash. Left to right: Erik Vogel, Scott Deschamps, Paul Archambault, Larry Shaben. (
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Scott Deschamps looks on as Paul Archambault receives his lifesaving award in Grande Prairie on March 1, 1985. (
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Paul Archambault and Sue Wink in Grande Prairie during happier times, 1985. (
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Erik Vogel (left) and Scott Deschamps at the start of their five-day hike of the West Coast Trail, 1985. (
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Scott Deschamps and his half-sister, Joanne Deal, in front of Scott’s home during her only visit to Canada, 1998. (
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Erik Vogel at the fire hall in his early days as a firefighter. Back row, left to right: Tom Chapman, Kris Andersen, Erik Vogel (centre), Norm King, John Titley. Seated, left to right: Captain Bob Zetterstrom, Lieutenant Brian Davis. (
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Erik Vogel (right) and fellow West Coast Air pilot Brent Mclean on the float of a de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter during Erik’s final days as a commercial pilot. (
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The author at her home with the survivors on their twenty-year reunion in October 2004. Left to right: Erik Vogel, Larry Shaben, Carol Shaben, Scott Deschamps. (
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As you go the way of life you will see a great chasm. Jump.
It is not as wide as you think.
NATIVE AMERICAN PROVERB
F
or Brian Dunham, the Wapiti search-and-rescue mission and its unlikely assortment of survivors was one of the strangest and most memorable in his twenty-five-year career as a SAR Tech. After Dunham hoisted the four survivors aboard the Chinook, Dr. Kenneth Betts, the military medical officer, tended to their injuries. The doctor had quickly assessed the two men who had been hauled up on stretchers—Erik and Scott. What Betts found wasn’t good. The pilot had a potentially life-threatening collapsed lung and a head injury, in addition to having lost a lot of blood. Scott had blunt chest trauma and hypothermia, and was in extreme pain. Larry had broken ribs and a probable compression fracture of his spine, while Paul appeared only scraped up. Betts radioed Slave Lake, requesting immediate transport of the four survivors to Edmonton for further assessment and medical treatment. Word came back quickly that the Hercules was refuelled and standing by to fly the men south.
Hearing this, Larry insisted that he not be sent to Edmonton, so the medical team on the chopper decided that he and Paul, having
more minor injuries, would be admitted to hospital in Slave Lake. Paul, who had been reclining in the back of the Chinook, sat up. “I have to be with Scott,” he said. “Wherever he goes, I go.”