Gateway-Feb2014

GATEWAY

Waiting for the next step

5-Month-old Logan Vandermeulen needs a human heart to live.

NEWS PAGE 3

Port of Prince Rupert

The infrastructure at the port is there to help grow trade to Asia.

NEWS PAGE 8

Graduates eager to learn the nuances of this area’s wilderness careers PAGE 14

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Your community voice for the north!

WEDNESDAY February 19 2014

NEWS AND EVENTS FOR PRINCE GEORGE AND CENTRAL INTERIOR

Terry Fox fundraiser Jim Terrion shows a Jericho Hills School for the Deaf award from 1990 and a photo from Mr. and Mrs. Fox from 1993.

Citizen photo by David Mah

LIFE PAGE 22

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GATEWAYnews

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Colleen Sparrow Publisher

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Neil Godbout managing Editor

The tug of heart strings Medical devices keep Logan Vandermeulen from dying.

The five-month-old now needs a human heart to live.

Peter James | Prince George Citizen

Logan Vandermeulen

Logan Vandermeulen will turn five months old next week but the infant from Prince George has already had more medical procedures than many people will have in a lifetime.

When he was one day old, Logan had a pacemaker installed, which was later upgraded.

This week he was put on to an artificial pumping device, known as a Berlin Heart, to keep his blood flowing. Now Logan and his parents, Jason and Veronica, are waiting for the next step - a heart transplant.

“The machines I don’t think bug me as much, it’s that uncomfortable look on his face,”Veronica said.

“I know the machines are helping and it’s a little hard to see him like that, but I know it’s helping him.”

At one point Logan had a tube in his throat as part of a procedure and Veronica could see that he was crying, but the tube prevented him from making any noise.

“You just don’t want to see your child, unhappy or sick on in pain,” she said.“I think the pain is the worst.”

Because Logan is so young, Veronica said it’s difficult to know if he’s hurting or hungry or wanting something else.

“It’s a guessing game a lot of the time,” she said.

Doctors first noticed there was a problem with Logan’s heart when Veronica was 26 weeks

pregnant.They scheduled a C-section three weeks prior to Logan’s expected due date and installed the pacemaker the next day. Eventually, they were sent home.

“After the pacemaker he was doing quite well,” Veronica said.“We had a follow up in November and they thought everything looked good - his heart was looking at little bit different, but there was nothing they were concerned about.”

In December, Jason and Veronica began to notice changes in Logan’s behaviour - but those could be attributed to an infant going through normal developmental stages.They became increasingly worried when Logan began to lose weight in January and he stopped feeding regularly.

At first, doctors suspected Logan had a bronchial infection, but after an X-ray physicians noticed Logan’s heart was much bigger than expected.

He was diagnosed with severe cardiomyopathy, basically his heart muscle wasn’t working.

“Instead of pumping like it should, it’s just quivering,”Veronica said.

Logan received special heart medication and an upgraded pacemaker last month and once again he appeared to be doing better, so much so that the Vandermeulen’s were preparing to return to Prince George.

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GATEWAYnews Cont’d from page 3 Just before they were ready to come home, Veronica noticed Logan’s breathing was becoming increasingly laboured and again doctors became concerned.

“His heart was against his ribs and it was taking room from his left lung,” Veronica said.“You could actually see some of the bones in his chest stick out because his heart was just so big.”

The decision was made to put Logan on a Berlin Heart as a temporary measure until a donor heart becomes available.

The new technology includes an exterior valve to help Logan’s current heart do its job and keep him alive.

The six-hour surgery was completed on Tuesday and doctors are now trying to make Logan as comfortable as possible as he adjusts to his new heart device.

Veronica and Jason waited in another room when the Berlin Heart was installed, eager to hear the news about their son.

“The waiting is the hardest, because you’re always wondering,” she said, adding

t The tug of heart strings no news during the procedure was a good sign that things were going well.

Now a new wait is underway as the Berlin Heart is only a temporary fix. Logan has been moved to the top of the national transplant list for a heart his size, but it could still be months before a suitable one becomes available.

Logan has responded well to the Berlin Heart and Veronica said his weight has stabilized after falling last month, but he is still less than the 12 pounds he weighed before Christmas. She’s thankful he was born weighing seven pounds because it gave him more strength to get through all of the procedures he’s endured already.

While Logan and his parents wait in Vancouver, his two-year-old brother Elias has stayed behind in Prince George and is living with his grandparents.

“It’s nice that he’s not here because he’s getting the attention that he needs,” Veronica said.“At the same time it’s killing us that he’s not here and we can’t spend time with him.”

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GATEWAYnews Cont’d from page 4 Logan’s ongoing medical trials have been exhausting for Veronica and Jason, but they appreciate all the support they’ve received from family and friends.

Jason’s employer has been very cooperative, although he’s expected to go back to work early next month.

Veronica said she and her husband have found going on daily hour-long walks have been a good way to clear their mind so they can focus on Logan’s care when they’re at his bedside.

The David Foster Foundation has helped the Vandermeulen’s with the dayto-day expenses like accommodations and food as they wait for Logan’s transplant, but friends and family in Prince George have launched a fundraising drive to help cover some of the medical costs the family will incur.They set up a trust account at CIBC (account number 08950/84-78791) in trust of Mandy or Brenda for Logan.The account will be

t The tug of heart strings open for another 60 days.

Veronica said the money raised will help cover immediate medical expenses, like prescription medication, as well as future costs that will come up as Logan continues his recovery.

Since the average transplanted childhood heart lasts about 15 years, Logan will likely need another transplant before adulthood and possibly more after that , but Veronica is hopeful medical science will continue to progress during that time so that the hearts can last even longer.

Financial help is welcome, but Veronica said it’s just as important for people who are willing to become organ donors to sign up through B.C.Transplant.

“We’re really wanting people to become organ donors, because it saves lives,” she said.

People can register up by visiting www.transplantbc.ca or receive more information about donating organs by calling 1-800-663-6189.

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GATEWAYnews

Rupert port no joke, says CEO Citizen staff Chamber of Commerce president Derek Dougherty thought he’d made a gaffe Thursday, introducing Port of Prince Rupert CEO Don Krusel at a lunch event as being from the Port of Prince George.

Krusel seized on it after taking the podium at Thursday’s Chamber Speaker Series event.

“Really, it sort of is. It is the Port of Burns Lake, Houston, Mackenzie,Tumbler Ridge...,” he said.“One of the greatest myths being perpetuated these days is that transporting goods through northern B.C. creates no local economic impact.

Just ask Jerod if there is any relevance

for him,” he said flashing a picture on a screen.“He’s a CN worker from Smithers.

There are 900 CN workers on the north line.There are another 2,200 jobs connected to the movement of those goods - $130 million in wages directly related to the movement of those goods.

Nine hundred new jobs were created in the last two years, related to the movement of those goods.”

None of that, he added, counts the panregion economic activity related to the production of those goods.

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GATEWAYnews Cont’d from page 8 Lumber, coal, minerals, grain, wood pellets, all kinds of mass-shipment resources pass through the Port of Prince Rupert’s gates and off into the world.The facility currently hosts about 450 deepsea vessels each year and the expectation is for 1,200 or more per year within the next decade.

“Without the Port of Prince Rupert you could not coal mine in northeastern B.C. because there wasn’t the capacity to transport it, before. Grain farmers didn’t have the capacity before our facilities to move their product cost-effectively.”

He cited Prince George company Pinnacle Pellet as a prime example.Their business growth was tied heavily to the port - so much so that in the past year they built and opened their own docks and as a result of that facility they were able to also open a new pellet manufacturing plant in Terrace, in partnership with a First Nation.The spinoff effects of his port, he said, was influencing the economy of almost every town in the region.

The growth of the port has been exponential in the past 10 years and will remain high in the next decade, bringing growing pains with it, said Krusel.The main concern for port officials, and community stakeholders on the north coast, is marine safety.The plans are already active to implement traffic-flow protocols and incident response protocols.

The main advantage they’ve had all along, said Krusel - a senior administrator with the port authority since 1987 and CEO since 1992 - is the ability to plan.The layout of the port and the time frames involved in its development have allowed administrators and stakeholders and government to hone the designs.

“Trade is what creates prosperity for us. We need to look to Asia for that,” he said.“Our infrastructure at the port is there to help that grow. As the closest North American port to Asia, our future in northern B.C. is very bright.”

Gateway is a product of the

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Available on-line at www.pgcitizen.ca General Inquiries 250-562-2441 Publisher: Colleen Sparrow Advertising: Dave Smith Editor: Neil Godbout Reader Sales: Alan Ramsay

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GATEWAYcareers

Profession based on outdoor adventure Frank Peebles | Prince George Citizen There are new boots on the ground in the region’s backcountry.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service has added two newly minted COs to the Prince George office, both freshly graduated from their training and both eager to learn the nuances of this area’s wilderness.

Dan Echstadter, 28, has plenty of experience in the region. Raised in Smithers, he is a graduate of UNBC with a degree in psychology.

Craig McCulloch, 28, comes from Campbell River and attended Vancouver Island University so this is his first northern exposure but hardly his first

venture into the woods. Like Echstadter, he chose this profession based on a lifetime of outdoor adventure.

“It’s been a childhood dream to be a CO,” said McCulloch.“The Comox Valley is a pretty outdoorsy place. Dan Dwyer was a well-known CO down there and he was like a second dad to me - pushing me, guiding me, and playing on the interests I showed for being out in the outdoors.”

“I didn’t realize what I really wanted until part way through university,” said Echstadter.“I realized this could put together my recreational hobbies with a good career.”

Putting on the badge and gun of a CO is not an easy goal to attain. Many apply, but few are chosen

New Conservation Officers Craig McCulloch, left, and Daniel Eichstadter.

Citizen photo by Brent Braaten

for the Western Conservation Law Enforcement Academy (the western provinces and territories combine to operate this training facility in Hinton, Alberta). Even fewer graduate and fewer still are assigned to northern B.C. “Usually we get two or three new COs in B.C. each year, out of about 500 applications,” said Prince Georgeregion’s chief superintendent Doug Forsdick.

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GATEWAYcareers Cont’d from page 14 “This was an extraordinary year - we had 10 graduate into B.C. and we got two for this region.

It’s the first time in years that we now have a full compliment of field staff.”

The two rookies now get several months of direct mentorship with some of the veteran COs stationed at the Prince George office.

“We will get them as many and as varied a set of experiences as we can,” said Forsdick.

They have to become familiar with the terrain of the area and the diversity of duties they will perform.

The COs also cross professional paths with other law enforcement agencies so they’ll need to become familiar with those officers, as well.

Acting Insp.

Rory Smith said the new

blood was invigorating for all the uniformed and plainclothed staff at regional headquarters.

“There are things that always fall off the table when you are short-staffed, so now we can connect better on a lot of those things,” Smith said.“There is no substitute for presence in the field.”

Forsdick agreed, pointing to a targeted enforcement regime in a rural northern community that had seen little previous attention from COs. “We never write so much paper,” he said, of the constant wildlife, fishing and environmental infractions they came across.“One year later, this

year, we went back there again. One ticket. One. There was no compliance before because there was no enforcement, and it all came together just like that. We need to be out there meeting people, talking about infractions, acting on infractions, so there is an understanding in the public that we do care and we are there and things will be done to correct any problems.”

The two rookies had been in Prince George less than a full day when the veteran COs took them to a meeting of the local trappers’ association.

“Connecting with those groups is a priority, because they are the people who are out

encountering issues in the bush all over the region more than any other - the trappers, the hunters, the hikers, the skiers and snowmobilers.

Yes, they can be the ones causing the problems, but most often it is them who want the problems stopped and want us to do something about it, and understand what’s going on out in the field,” said Forsdick.“They are the ones being proactive in their area and we must be proactive with them.

It really is in everyone’s best interests. We want these new guys to get involved in that right away.”

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GATEWAYlife

Fox fundraiser hopes to chase down million mark Arthur Williams | Prince George Citizen

Jim Terrion is over halfway to his lifetime goal: to raise $1 million for the Terry Fox Foundation.

Every year since 1991 Terrion has participated in the Terry Fox Run and, as of November, had raised over $580,000 for cancer research – making him the top individual fundraiser for the foundation.

Born nearly deaf,Terrion was inspired

by Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope as a teenager.

“He followed Terry Fox all through his [Marathon of Hope,]” his mother Faye Terrion said.

“In 1990 [Jim] walked across Canada, from Feb. 5 to Nov. 22.”

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GATEWAYlife Cont’d from page 22 Jim’s walk was raise awareness of issues facing the deaf and in support of the World Winter Games for the Deaf, which were held in Banff in 1991. He travelled from Edmonton to where Terry Fox dipped his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean and back to his thenhometown of Prince Rupert – travelling a total of 9,917 km followed by a support vehicle.

Faye said prior to his trans-Canada walk in 1990, Jim had felt his inability to speak or hear people would prevent him from canvassing for donations. But the experience taught him he could connect with people, despite his inability to communicate verbally – particularly in Prince Rupert where he is well known.

“He starts here in about August and goes canvassing,” Faye said, adding that she sometimes goes with him to act as a translator.

Later in August, Jim will take his

holidays from his job at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. to spend several weeks canvassing door-to-door in Prince Rupert, she said.

His best one-year total came in 1996, when he raised about $47,000.

“It’s his hometown, everyone knows him,” Faye said.

In November, 2015, he plans to celebrate his 25th year doing the walk by travelling with a a friend to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to take part in the Terry Fox Run there, she said.

“That year he’ll go to [Prince] Rupert to canvass, then fly to Vancouver to do the walk in Port Coquitlam [Terry Fox’s hometown], before going to Malaysia,” Faye said.“He’s never had a holiday. He takes his holidays to canvass, so this will be a bit of a holiday for him as well.”

Faye said Jim expects to break the $600,000 mark this year, and is still going strong.

“His goal is to raise $1 million, but he won’t stop there.”

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GATEWAYgrill

Smoked Pulled Pork Easily feed a crowd with delicious smoky barbecue When it comes to authentic ‘southern barbecue’, low and slow is the name of the game, say grilling specialists at Broil King. Allow yourself plenty of time with this pork shoulder recipe. Use low temperatures and allow the meat to rest before shredding. Additional recipes and grilling tips are available at www.broilkingbbq.com.

Ingredients 6-8 pound pork shoulder 3 tbsp. yellow mustard 2-3 handfuls of wood chips - soaked Rub 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup chili powder 1/3 cup paprika 1/4 cup celery salt 1/4 cup garlic powder 1/4 cup onion salt Cont’d on page 30

www.newscanada.com

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GATEWAYgrill Cont’d from page 28 1/4 cup black pepper 1/4 cup white pepper 1 tbsp. dry mustard 1 tbsp. 5-spice powder 1 tbsp. dry ginger Mop (an authentic basting tool) 2 cups apple juice 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 cup water 4 tbsp. barbecue rub (from above) Boil for 3 – 5 minutes, stirring constantly, cool overnight Finishing Touches 2 cups barbecue sauce Directions Prepare rub, mop and barbecue sauce the night before. Rub pork shoulder with yellow mustard, cover with rub, and let rest for half an hour before placing on your barbecue. Set your barbecue for indirect grilling at 225°F. In a gas barbecue, use a smoker box for your wood chips; for charcoal barbecues, place a handful of soaked wood chips on the surface of the

charcoal. Place the pork shoulder on the barbecue, close the lid. Begin coating with apple juice mop an hour into the cooking process and continue to baste every half hour. Leave pork on grill until the internal temperature of the pork reaches 185°190° F. This could take from 6 to 10 hours, depending on weather conditions. Monitor the internal temperature of the pork using a meat thermometer. Once it has reached a temperature remove it from the barbecue, wrap it tightly in foil and allow it to rest for at least an hour before pulling. Do not skip this step, as it is the final step in allowing the connective tissue to completely break down, resulting in tender, moist pork.

Shred using pork claws or a meat fork. Mix with barbecue sauce and enjoy.

Important Preparation Tips: ∙ Purchase a pork shoulder with a nice fat cap. There is a lot of flavour and moisture there, so leave it on. ∙ Keep the cooking temperature inside the barbecue constant at approximately 225°F. ∙ Take the guess work out of grilling by using a meat thermometer to monitor the internal temperature of the meat.

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