A special group was in the house for the Humboldt Broncos’ Emergency Responders game. Members of the Nipawin First Responders were on hand for a 2nd period intermission puck drop raising funds for the Nipawin Hospital Heliport Project Fundraiser.
Responders from Nipawin were a critical part of the mission on the fateful night of the Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy. Saturday night offered a chance for the Humboldt crowd to show their appreciation by participating in the effort to provide a helipad that allows for landings in closer proximity to the Nipawin Hospital.
First responder Dylan Borody from Carrot River was on hand as part of the venture.
“The Nipawin Heliport project is obviously critical in patient care,” says Borody. “Unfortunately, it was with the Broncos bus crash that we noticed that need of having the heliport directly at the Hospital.”
Currently, patients from the Nipawin Hospital need to be transported to the Nipawin Airport. That transport costs time, and time equates to life, says Borody.
“By completing the helipad projects, we’ll be able to transport from hospital to hospital with STARS air ambulance. That’s where the real importance comes in is patient care.”
The fundraising thus far has included a kickoff night in Nipawin that went a long way to helping raise funds. Borody said prior to the puck drop that the group was 60 percent of the way toward its $700,000 goal.
“We’re striving to hit that home run."
The puck drop, with a Colorado Avalanche defenseman Kyle Makar signed jersey up for grabs, netted a whopping $6530 toward the project. It was another example of communities banding together in support of each other.