Miracle atop a mountain for father, son
Last Wednesday Eric English and Keith Richardson headed out for a dirt bike ride. Eric’s 75-year-old dad, Bruce English, was joining buddies on ATVs for a ride. Neither Eric nor Bruce knew where the other was planning to ride. Eric and Keith left from Bear Creek, east of Kellogg and Bruce’s group left from Pine Creek near Pinehurst.
I’ll let Eric continue the incredible tale from here:
“Keith and I had been riding for several hours and crested a meadow at the top of one of the random hill climbs. We came across an ATV trail and just happened to go left. A couple miles down the trail we came across an ATV rider and he held up three fingers signifying we will be passing three more ATV riders. We passed another but the other two were not close. We came around a bend and down the trail to find a flipped ATV and the rider was down the steep embankment unconscious. This accident literally just happened and the other rider had just gotten to the downed rider.
“Keith turned around to tell the other guys and let them know about the accident. As I was getting off my bike and taking my helmet off I looked closer at the ATV and yelled out ‘is that Bruce English?’ The other rider (Bill Dennis) yelled back, ‘yes, it is!’
“I couldn’t believe it. I ran down the embankment and sure enough it was my dad. He was regaining consciousness, so we stabilized his head and then went through all the questions about where he may be hurt. Miraculously he had no broken bones or lacerations. We got him back up on the trail and it was very apparent he had a concussion.
“We used the wench from his 4-wheeler to secure the front and another to the back and got the ATV flipped back over. I rode him out on the ATV leaving my motorcycle (note: it was 8-10 miles and took Eric 90 minutes to transport Bruce back to their vehicles). Dad went to the ER and got checked out and was told he did have a minor concussion and no broken bones.
“What are the odds of all the trails in North Idaho that we would be on the same one and within a minute of the wreck? I am thankful for the miracle and am glad my dad is still here to talk about it. I could not even imagine another scenario. God was watching over us!”
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LaDonna Beaumont discovered flying three years ago. She took lessons, earned her pilot’s license and has hundreds of hours already. Her mentor, Don Pischner, is also her partner in ownership of a 1976 Cessna 172, which is the most common airplane in general aviation.
She’s enjoyed inviting friends to fly and for several months something always came up that kept me from accepting. On Friday LaDonna said she was going to fly this weekend and asked if I’d like to join her. Admittedly I hesitated to accept, not because I’m normally afraid of flying, but because of it’s so soon after the tragedy over Lake Coeur d’Alene. I decided to push past the hesitation and we met at Resort Aviation at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
I realized that for months we’ve all been living in a world that is permeated with fear and uncertainty, and it’s not healthy. I also reminded myself that two of my three daughters are involved in aviation as their livelihoods. One a 20-year flight attendant, another whose husband is a former airline pilot who owns and operates an agricultural aerial application company in eastern Montana.
Until COVID-19 changed everything I thought nothing of flying often for little jaunts, across the county or internationally. So I welcomed the opportunity to join my friend for a Sunday “drive” over North Idaho. Am I ever glad I did!
LaDonna is an excellent pilot, and I gained a new perspective of our local air traffic, procedures and what a gem COE airport is for the area. Seeing our communities from the air is illuminating and reminded me how fortunate we are to live where we do.
So thank you LaDonna for sharing your passion and your clubhouse with wings!
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A year ago I wrote about my longtime friend Bebe Miles Fletcher celebrating her 95th birthday camping on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River with four generations of family. I was sure she couldn’t top that for awesomeness except that she did.
On her 96th birthday Sunday she celebrated by serving as the matron of honor at her niece Wendy Smith’s wedding to Rick Thompson. I’m looking forward to seeing how Miss Bebe celebrates her 97th in 2021!
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Happy Main Street birthdays today to Logan Virgil, Kris Siebers, Katie Mans, Laurel Flerchinger, Loretta Lyon, Angela Olson, Andreas John, Julie Ingram, Marisa Buffaloe, Brian Bunch, Wayne Huckabee and Glen Collins. Tomorrow Sandi Morrison, Yvonne Smith, Marcy Clutter, Rich Doughty, Cindy Wiedmer, Patrick Ryan and Doug Jaworski celebrate.
Steve Roberg, Terry Werner, Callie Cabe, John Malloy, Erik Nelson, Rick Souza, Janet Brock, Belinda Rowe, Amber Flinn, Lori Larkin and Emily Crawford take another trip around the sun on Friday. Eric Wurmlinger, Jessica Ohlig, Annette Davis, Kathy LaTourrette, Dustin Peacock, Lori Nelson, Sandie Husby, Joanne Anglin and Cody Jones put on their party hats on Saturday.
On Sunday David Kilmer, Maria Dawson, Brooke Skidmore-Wood, Vic Grilli, Bill Noordam, Hillary Main, Sherri Dust and Micheala Cocoran Hall will toast to another year. On Monday Duffy Smock, Linda Litalien and Kymber Baker blow out the candles. July 21 birthdays will be marked by Jim Lien, Cathy Meeks, David Miller, Todd Jenicek, Zofia Schell, Janet Allen, Shane Bell and Matt Gardner.
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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.