Parents say their adult daughter would not still be here if HALO Air Ambulance had not been able to get to her and get her to the hospital to address a serious head injury she suffered during a horseback riding incident.
Sylvia and Wayne Klok attended the 2nd Annual Flight Up the Night event in support of the air ambulance organization on Saturday and shared their story of their daughter Christine Dorohoy, who was 64 kilometres away from the nearest hospital when her horse went down on their property near Schuler Alberta. Wayne says he is grateful for those who continue to support the organization and help keep HALO in the air because while he may not have known much about the organization before receiving the phone call about his daughter he was grateful they were able to get to his daughter when they did.
“I would never wish it on anybody else for sure but it can happen it can happen to anybody,” he says. “When you might have lost your child… that’s not part of the norm right… You are not supposed to outlive your children. Halo was part of that this time, they helped keep her alive because I know she wouldn’t have survived if they weren’t there.”
HALO Chief Executive Officer Paul Carolan says he does not think you can overstate the importance of having events like the one on Saturday, as those who attend the event want to make a difference and connect to the organization.
“HALO is something that will grab ahold of you and I think, you know, being back for the second year, some same faces in the room, I think that really helps us tell our story,” Carolan says. “We brought the helicopter out here [Saturday] and one of the things I always say is that’s how you want to see HALO. That’s how you want to get up close and personal with HALO. That’s how you want to get to know Halo.”
Carolan shares something he has heard before from someone who has had to use the organization for a family member HALO is like having insurance, you don’t want to have to use it but you’re glad to know it is there.
“I think in the world we live in and we choose to live in rural and remote Alberta, we choose to be out here in the farmer’s fields, raising cattle, driving along the highways and byways, a long way from those services that will save our lives if we need them to be saved. Helicopters and Halo are the type of thing that can get you where you need to go quickly.”
“You don’t want to have a Halo story, but I think you want to know that it’s there and so I think that’s why it’s so important that people get on board and support, come to events, donate when they can.”
He adds having those who have been impacted by HALO and its services like Wayne and Sylvia come out and share their story is important because it is an important part of the story.
“We always want to make sure that we focus on that as well.”
Sylvia says it is important people continue to support HALO Air Ambulance because in 2020 had there not been the support for the organization then Christine would not have flown that day and “she would have died.”
“We really believe that that would have happened. Just to know that there’s a need out there and we need to support them to save the next person’s lives,” Sylvia says.”[The incident has] made us love deeper and love more, everyone means something even if they’re a stranger.”
More information, including how to support the organization, can be found here.
