Can we get Olaf to go smack your aunt and beat up your ex?
-- My son's HERO & his adventure in Alaska --
- Thread starter VaBusa
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That is the one thing I will miss when I leave here....I've noticed that if there is anyone who needs help (especially in winter) it is hard as hell to NOT have the whole town jump in and help. Funny thing is, you can be in the middle of nowhere, need help, people materialize outta the wood work, lend a hand, then just ghost away........I've had it happen a few times. Rarely will they accept any form of compensation or acknowledgment.
Rio
Rio
Blanca Busa said:Can we get Olaf to go smack your aunt and beat up your ex?
I was told she left Sam with a good friend, so that friend may have been Olaf...
I personally couldn't leave a child that was in my care and had just fallen in freezing water in Alaska, and I expressed this to my ex. I would hope given the chance, they might handle things differently. Just thankful he was in good hands and is OK...
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Glad Sam's alright 
Olaf 
Olaf 
The lack of info / getting it earlier through the internet than from the adults is frustrating to say the least...I am glad to hear that your son is ok.
An experience will change his life for the better...overcoming small problems will be less stressfull and the fact that he was there in the first place is unique. It is tough to be a parent at times.
An experience will change his life for the better...overcoming small problems will be less stressfull and the fact that he was there in the first place is unique. It is tough to be a parent at times.
I think it's a good thing there were 4 days between this happening and me seeing the ex to talk about it. I was pretty ticked about decisions made by adults watching over Sam, but by the time I could relay them, I'd calmed down quite a bit. I'm still not sure if it's just me being in "Mom mode" or what, but I know for a fact I wouldn't have just left my son (or ANY child) after something like that happened to him. I won't lie, the sting of just now finding the info I've been looking for all along hurts, but I know I'd never do that to my ex and I can't explain why it's been done to me...
Onward and upward, and if anything, I have told Sam that it was wrong for the adult responsible for his well-being to leave him like she did. He's told me things like "She had to finish up the race" but I know better. A child's life is worth way more than your moment of fame at the Yukon Quest, but as I stated earlier, I too hold hope that if she could do things over again, perhaps she'd choose to stick around, perhaps even use the snowmobile she was on to get him to safety much faster than leaving it to two strangers carrying him. What do I know, right? LOL
Glad he is ok
As for the ex
A little roadtrip and a chat by the river is in order
Love it...can I line a few people up?!
aussiesuzukirider
Never Forgotten
Glad this turned out well, people like Olaf are always around but you never notice them till they jump into action they really are hero's
As for the Ex I can see why he is an Ex:angry:
As for the Ex I can see why he is an Ex:angry:
I posted the story on my fb to help spread the word about this true hero!
Thanks Olaf!
Thanks Olaf!
Glad things worked out the way they did Michelle. GLad Sam had a gaurdian angel since his gaurdian was not responsible. I know how it is to be left out of the loop whe important things happen to your children. I got a call one day saying my daughter had court the next morning and was asked if I could be there for moral support for her. I was like WTF happened and when. Nothing as bad as what you and Sam went through but still, Communication is lacking between people today.
Glad Sam is OK and a huge thanks to Olaf for stepping up and helping your Sam.
Glad Sam is OK and a huge thanks to Olaf for stepping up and helping your Sam.
Thanks everyone! I emailed Olaf today, hoping I'd stalked him down to his own FB site and seeing his email published there
Hi Olaf,
I sure hope this is the right email! I saw a brief story on Facebook about you pulling a boy from the river during the start of the Yukon Quest. I left my sincerest thanks on that article, but I don't know that you'll be seeing it; did a quick search on Facebook and I think I found that you have an acct there, but don't use it and said to email instead
I'm the mother of the boy you pulled from the water on the day the Yukon Quest began. His name is Sam, and he's been describing his adventures to me since I was all the way in Virginia when this occurred. He'd been vacationing with his father and grandparents, and was riding with Lisa (his aunt) when their snowmobile broke through the ice, tumbling Sam in to the water. Sam told me that 2 men were there to help him, that one guy even went in the water to get him out, and now I'm putting together with the help of Facebook that that person was you.
Since I can't hug you for what you did, I wanted to contact you and give you my very best and most sincere thanks for what you did. You may not think it was a big deal, but for me, you saved Sam's life. After the news traveled to Virginia and it sank in, I realized just how badly all of that could have gone and how, in an instant, your world can turn upside down. It's because of you that I still have Sam, and I can't thank you enough or have words to express just how amazing it is to know there are selfless people, willing to risk their own lives to help others. Sam's told me all about the experience, how scary it was, and I got word that his body temp dropped to 77 degrees, so I don't think he would have lasted had he been in the water any longer. Thank you soooo much for being his hero that day!!!
Sam said there was another man that helped carry him to safety, and I have yet to figure out who else I should thank for taking care of my son. If you know that other person that helped that day, I would love to give them my thanks as well.
I hope you realize what your actions mean to my son and his family!! You're an amazing human being Olaf.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Michelle
I received this back tonight:
Hi Michelle,
thank you so much for your email. I am very happy to have been able to help Sam that day but also think anybody would have done that just as I did – I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time.
I was unhooking the teams from the snow machines before the start line and saw how the snow machine fell through the ice. Since his aunt’s leg was trapped between the ice and the machine and she could not turn around to help herself I ran over there and jumped in the water to make sure Sam would not fall in all the way. He had a big helmet on and I just thought the weight of the helmet would make him go in all the way. It all went so fast, there was no time to actually think about it; it was a reflex more than anything. Unfortunately I don’t know who the other person was, I just grabbed Sam and handed him over to somebody else, then I made sure I would make it back on the ice myself and with the help of others we pulled the machine back on the ice. It happened after the first team and there was still another 22 teams to go so I went right back to my spot to unhook the next teams coming to the start line for the next hour and a half. Luckily I was dressed warm enough and I never went home to change until all the teams of the 1000 mile race had left. I guess the adrenaline helped to stay warm, too. Only after that I went home to change and came back for the 300 mile race.
I later asked around and heard that somebody had taken Sam over to the EMT people and that he was fine. His dad came and thanked me for helping out after his aunt pointed me out to him. I never even thought that story would end up on Facebook. I really appreciate you taking the time to write me and all I can say is I would do it any time again, there was no way for me not to react that way. I hope Sam has good memories of that day and the Yukon Quest, it must be exciting to see all the dogs at that age, I get excited myself every year. If you guys ever come back up to Alaska I would be very happy to meet you guys for real since that day everything went so fast and I never even had the time to talk to Sam.
Thanks again for taking the time to research about me, it makes me really happy and I had tears in my eyes reading your mail. Hope to see you on the trail one of these days, stay warm and give Sam a big hug.
Olaf and Speedy
Hi Olaf,
I sure hope this is the right email! I saw a brief story on Facebook about you pulling a boy from the river during the start of the Yukon Quest. I left my sincerest thanks on that article, but I don't know that you'll be seeing it; did a quick search on Facebook and I think I found that you have an acct there, but don't use it and said to email instead
I'm the mother of the boy you pulled from the water on the day the Yukon Quest began. His name is Sam, and he's been describing his adventures to me since I was all the way in Virginia when this occurred. He'd been vacationing with his father and grandparents, and was riding with Lisa (his aunt) when their snowmobile broke through the ice, tumbling Sam in to the water. Sam told me that 2 men were there to help him, that one guy even went in the water to get him out, and now I'm putting together with the help of Facebook that that person was you.
Since I can't hug you for what you did, I wanted to contact you and give you my very best and most sincere thanks for what you did. You may not think it was a big deal, but for me, you saved Sam's life. After the news traveled to Virginia and it sank in, I realized just how badly all of that could have gone and how, in an instant, your world can turn upside down. It's because of you that I still have Sam, and I can't thank you enough or have words to express just how amazing it is to know there are selfless people, willing to risk their own lives to help others. Sam's told me all about the experience, how scary it was, and I got word that his body temp dropped to 77 degrees, so I don't think he would have lasted had he been in the water any longer. Thank you soooo much for being his hero that day!!!
Sam said there was another man that helped carry him to safety, and I have yet to figure out who else I should thank for taking care of my son. If you know that other person that helped that day, I would love to give them my thanks as well.
I hope you realize what your actions mean to my son and his family!! You're an amazing human being Olaf.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Michelle
I received this back tonight:
Hi Michelle,
thank you so much for your email. I am very happy to have been able to help Sam that day but also think anybody would have done that just as I did – I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time.
I was unhooking the teams from the snow machines before the start line and saw how the snow machine fell through the ice. Since his aunt’s leg was trapped between the ice and the machine and she could not turn around to help herself I ran over there and jumped in the water to make sure Sam would not fall in all the way. He had a big helmet on and I just thought the weight of the helmet would make him go in all the way. It all went so fast, there was no time to actually think about it; it was a reflex more than anything. Unfortunately I don’t know who the other person was, I just grabbed Sam and handed him over to somebody else, then I made sure I would make it back on the ice myself and with the help of others we pulled the machine back on the ice. It happened after the first team and there was still another 22 teams to go so I went right back to my spot to unhook the next teams coming to the start line for the next hour and a half. Luckily I was dressed warm enough and I never went home to change until all the teams of the 1000 mile race had left. I guess the adrenaline helped to stay warm, too. Only after that I went home to change and came back for the 300 mile race.
I later asked around and heard that somebody had taken Sam over to the EMT people and that he was fine. His dad came and thanked me for helping out after his aunt pointed me out to him. I never even thought that story would end up on Facebook. I really appreciate you taking the time to write me and all I can say is I would do it any time again, there was no way for me not to react that way. I hope Sam has good memories of that day and the Yukon Quest, it must be exciting to see all the dogs at that age, I get excited myself every year. If you guys ever come back up to Alaska I would be very happy to meet you guys for real since that day everything went so fast and I never even had the time to talk to Sam.
Thanks again for taking the time to research about me, it makes me really happy and I had tears in my eyes reading your mail. Hope to see you on the trail one of these days, stay warm and give Sam a big hug.
Olaf and Speedy
Sorry ma'am but your ex needs his ass kicked up around his ears.
I felt that way at first, but to be honest, having not witnessed anything first hand and here I am, 2 weeks later still trying to piece the big picture together, I see no reason to start an argument with the ex. I did let my feelings be known to him, but it made no impact and I can't change that. He didn't handle this the way I would have, and to me, his sister has no good excuse at all for just leaving Sam behind to go on and lead the sleds, but Sam's OK and that's all that matters to me. If this had turned out badly, I don't even know what I'd say to her knowing she'd left him...I honestly have tried to stop thinking about it.
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