High school graduation

My brother worked as an ambulance driver while he was at university. He was able to get permission to use the ambulance to take me from University Hospital in Saskatoon to the graduation ceremony at Rosthern Junior College in Rosthern - about 40 mikes one way.  

I had been in traction at the hospital since April 11 with a shattered femur. The break had not yet set, so the doctors weren’t keen on letting me go. They said they wouldn’t be responsible if the break was damaged further. There was a metal bolt screwed through my tibia on which the traction weights were hung. There was an aluminum frame supporting my leg. They took the weights off and tied the rope around the end of the aluminum frame to keep tension to hold the leg bone in place. 

We weren’t sure it was going to work, so my attempt to join the graduation ceremony was kept a secret. Everyone was surprised as my brother wheeled me up the central aisle in the auditorium where the ceremony was taking place. 

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They put me with my stretcher at the front of the stage where all the other graduates were. I was the valedictorian, so I read the valedictory from the stretcher. It was a surreal moment. 

After the graduation ceremony I got to meet a lot of my friends and teachers I hadn’t seen for months. It was a bit emotional. In the picture below, my very good friend, Bill Bergen, is at my side. Bill and I survived a head-on collision that put me in hospital. Bill had more extensive injuries, but had been discharged from hospital before me. We’re still the best of friends.