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Lethbridge resident honoured as STARS first-ever patient

A Lethbridge resident has received a very special honour from STARS.

When the first of the air ambulance’s new fleet of helicopters arrived in Calgary a few months ago, Kelly Waldron was on board as a VIP (Very Important Patient).

The new chopper she was in honours her place in STARS history by bearing the registration mark C-GKLY, which is a nod to her first name.

Waldron was STARS first-ever patient. She and her twin brother were born two months early in Lethbridge back on December 1st, 1985 and Kelly had to be airlifted to Calgary by STARS. Her brother Travis was flown to Calgary in a fixed-wing plane.

“My mother was told her children would likely not survive and to say her goodbyes,” said Kelly.

Instead, the infants thrived and so did STARS.

Both Kelly and STARS will turn 34 years old this December. The organization says as it replaces its old helicopters, the past won’t be forgotten.

 

Patrick Siedlecki
Patrick Siedlecki
Pat has been a mainstay in the CJOC News department from the time the station launched in 2007. He's been in the position of News Director since then and has been anchoring daily news casts as well as reporting and working behind the scenes. Community is important to him and keeping CJOC listeners and readers informed about what's happening across southern Alberta and beyond. Pat has been in radio broadcasting for the past 24 years, starting in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in 1997 and then moving up island to Nanaimo for another few years before heading to Lethbridge in 2007. Pat grew up in the small Saskatchewan farming town of Foam Lake. After high school, he went to Western Academy Broadcasting College (WABC) in Saskatoon prior to moving to the island. Pat also spent several years broadcasting hockey in the BCHL as well as seven years as the radio voice of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Pat has been working at Cornerstone Funeral Home in Lethbridge as a Certified Life Celebrant and Funeral Assistant since 2016. News and sports have always been Pat's passion from the time he was a teenager and he's always been grateful to have had the opportunity to make that part of what's been a fun and long radio career!
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