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Plane Crash Survivor Recounts Miraculous Survival Story
29 Mar
Summary
- A plane crash survivor recounts the chilling experience of losing a friend and surviving a frozen lake.
- She survived extreme cold and hallucinations for hours before rescue.
- Permanent injuries led to leg amputations and loss of a nursing career dream.
Forty-four years ago, in March 1982, a 19-year-old woman and her pilot friend, JA, endured a devastating plane crash over Lake Winnipegosis. The flight, returning from a youth retreat, ended in a crash that left them in sub-zero temperatures. While JA succumbed to the cold, the survivor battled hallucinations and freezing conditions for hours.
Rescued around 11:30 a.m. on March 5, 1982, she was airlifted to a hospital. Her recovery was arduous, involving surgery for a fractured femur, the loss of her right eye due to plexiglass damage, and ultimately, the amputation of her legs on March 30, 1982, due to gangrene. This resulted in the permanent loss of her dream to pursue a nursing career.
Today, she lives as a double amputee, having lived more years with prosthetics than her own legs. The experience fundamentally altered her life's trajectory, yet she credits her survival to an unyielding faith and the belief that she was carried through the ordeal. She continues to remember JA and the profound lessons learned from that March weekend.
