January 4, 2021, 3:05 pm. "THANK YOU SO MUCH," the notification at the bottom of the computer screen reads in capital letters, "you saved my life" . A statement dropped like that to our email box that would swell the hearts of us with gratitude. Let us in turn immerse you in the story of Michel Truchon, survivor of an accident that should have cost him his life and, above all, of this miracle called Kativik.
For the last hour, armed with his courage and his keyboard, Michel Truchon wrote a few lines telling the improbable story he lived months earlier. February 9, 2020, to be precise. He came to work at about 1:30 a.m. to replace a colleague. A snow groomer driver on the ski slopes of Mont-Bélu in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, he faced that night a -39 degree Celsius temperature, strong winds and icy slopes. In short, the conditions were difficult. After an hour of work, he loses control of his machine which slides until it gets stuck in the forest on the side of a runway. The fall of the aircraft is slowed down by a huge tree that tears off a part of the cockpit and is stopped by Michel's legs... He is trapped in his seat and the pain paralyzes him. He is trapped in his seat and the pain paralyzes him. By the force of the impact, he has lost his cell phone in the cabin and his mobile radio is out of order. He is alone, in silence and suffering.
A night of torture
The minutes pass slowly, but the pain does not pass. Rather, it is getting worse. "I had to spend the whole night in agony. I could feel the breaking branches piercing more and more [skin] as the 3.5 tons of the groomer continued to put pressure on my legs," he writes. Wearing jogging pants and nothing in his feet but light socks, the temperature of the cabin was comfortable to work in, but since the cab was smashed by the tree, the man is at the mercy of Mother Nature.
His ritual for survival and warmth? "I have my hood with a fur collar on my head, my hands plunged into my pockets, I take gulps of air and then blow inside my coat to warm up a bit." But the clock is ticking. He shouts often, as loud as he can, but to no avail. No one hears him. He is alone in the forest and there is no habitation near the ski resort. He clings to the idea that colleagues will arrive early the next morning, but he knows that the device is in a little frequented place, too well hidden... He fears to be found too late. He can't take it anymore. The pain is inhuman and he loses hope. He tries to take his own life but each time he regains consciousness. His time does not seem to have arrived.
A glimmer of hope
Nearly six hours after the accident, he saw a light underneath him. The alarm on his phone, which was under his seat, rang and told him that it was 8:00 a.m. This is a sign that his shift should be over, but also that rescue may be on its way. Hope is reborn. At the end of his rope, he finds the courage to open the cabin console, finds components to turn the mobile radio back on... even though he can hear his frozen fingers breaking under the effort. Miracle, his repair operation works. His voice is weak, almost inaudible. Nevertheless, his call for help is heard. The biggest rescue operation of the year is underway.
First responders do what they can to help. The fire department is called in to help. But a tree of this size does not cooperate easily! Michel is the sad spectator of this scene in which we don't really know how to get him out of it. It is the driver of a mechanical shovel who is a few kilometers away, escorted by police officers, who will go on the slopes not without difficulty to help a colleague of Michel, who has experience with pruning, to remove the prisoner from the clutches of the forest. It's a great team effort, really!
A team of 7 doctors
At 11:30 a.m., 9 hours later, Michel is on his way to the hospital. One would think that he was out of danger, but on the contrary, it was feared that he would not survive the transport. Upon arrival, he was taken care of by no less than 7 doctors. None of them could see him keeping his legs blackened by the frost, he remembers. None of them understood that he could have such frostbite on his legs but not the slightest on his upper body...
He goes to the operating room. The coat on his back is cut off. Feathers are flying in all directions and they will still be found days and days later.
Michel's life was saved, but it was not as happy an ending as one might have hoped. One functional leg out of two, huge sciatic nerve problems, kidneys that stop working and finally come back to only 60% efficiency, daily pains that he controls with medication that has side effects... The list of consequences is important and irreversible for this father of young triplets! He even launched a cry from the heart recently by asking the specialists who follow him to proceed with the amputation of one of his two feet, which is causing him excruciating pain, and which of course affects his morale. We hope that he will be well accompanied for the future, so that he can gain in quality of life.
An unforgettable visit
On the eve of our vacation break, he arrived at our offices on Racine Street in Chicoutimi with his cane in hand. In the COVID era, we could not give him a hug even though we all wanted to. The team met him for the first time after having already had wet eyes after reading his email to us weeks earlier.
He looks great in his new black Kativik coat with a fur collar, which he bought weeks ago and which we'll be sure to pay him back for as a Christmas present. His last Chlorophyll, a red Kativik, was cut up by the doctors when he arrived at the hospital, remember.
"The doctors told me that this coat saved my life," he says. "Without it, I wouldn't be here. It's what kept me warm during those nine-hour ordeals in the cold of that winter day." He explains that when the employees of the ski center had to choose a coat among a selection of Chlorophylle models a few years ago, he had taken a Kativik because it was the warmest of all. He even had to pay extra for it because it was also the most expensive, but there was no doubt in his mind that it was his best ally against our northern climate.
The next adventure
Before leaving, we ask him what new adventure awaits his new Kativik. He confided to us that last winter he was confronted with a post-traumatic shock syndrome that confined him to his home during the cold weeks. Accompanied by a health professional over the last few months, who guided him to send us this email of thanks, he now hopes to be able to take on the challenge of a snowball fight with his three and a half year old daughters in the warmth of his Chlorophylle.
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