Pgge 3
June 1, 2011
Spilydy Tym oo, Warm Springs, Oregon
Life lessons from serious accident
By Duran Bobb
Spity ay Tymoo
Som ething happened on Janu
ary 1, 2002, that changed Warm
Springs Tribal O fficer David
Endicott forever.
But before that day, there
came a spark. “It started when
I w ent on a ride-alo ng w ith
J e ff e r s o n C o u n ty p o lic e ,”
Endicott was saying recently.
“I just loved it. I knew that
this was something that I had
to do.”
Endicott sold his share of a
carbide cutting tool industry and
set out on his goal of becoming
a police officer.
“Not long after that, I came
to Warm springs to assist dur
ing the big powwow. I liked it,
instantly, and I got hooked up
with Sergeant McEwen. He and
I got to be best friends. He told
me to come on up. So I applied
and got in. That was my life
then, and I just fell in love!”
For four years, David served
the public in his dream job. He
remembers the January day in
2002 when it changed. “I get
choked up,” he said.
Driving conditions that day
were wild. “A Big storm was
m oving in and the highw ay
turned into a sheet of ice. I was
up patrolling the north section
o f highway 26. People were
sliding off the road. There as
no cell phone service, so I was
Officer David Endicott
using the police radio to call for
help and to make sure every
body was okay.”
Traveling in the opposite di
rectio n , E ric N ufer o f
Beaverton was late checking into
his motel room in Bend.
■ Nufer and his three passen
gers were on a ski trip that Tues
day. He was driving a 1999
Chevrolet Silverado, doing 80
miles per hour in a 55 mile per
hour speed zone.
N ufer’s lost control of his
vehicle, and it slam m ed into
Endicott’s cruiser head-on. And
from there, the world went gray
for the officer.
“I don’t remember much af
ter that,” David said. “I don’t
know if I was conscious or not,
that’s how it was. I know that I
was moving around a lot.”
“Don Courtney and I ex
tracted the officer,” Fire Chief
Danny Martinez recalls. “I was
the smallest one, so I crawled
into the patrol unit to cut away
the radio, the dash, the brake
pedal that was rapped around
his ankle. It took about 45 min
utes to an hour to remove him.”
David remained calm during
that tim e. He spoke w ith
M artinez. “He was w orried
about the folks that ran into him.
He asked me to call his wife.”
Earlier that day, on highway
97, an EMT had been struck
and killed while at the scene of
another accident.
Air Life was grounded that
day, so Endicott had to be trans
ported almost 70 miles to St.
Charles in Bend by ambulance.
In a heart-wrenching gesture,
police and m edics all across
C en tral O regon cleared the
roads to make way for the am
bulance.
“My wife said it was pretty
am azing,” D avid said. “She
heard one o f the em ergency
personnel com m ent that the
President him self would have
been proud to have an escort
like the one I got. There were
reds and blues flying past on the
highway.”
Officer Endicott spent two
months in the hospital, with ex
tensive injuries. He had up to
12 surgeries, and there’s more
on the way.
Eric Nufer, the driver of the
Silverado, was tried and con
victed. He received 30 days in
jail and his insurance settled out
o f court. E ven tu ally, after
pleading guilty to assault, he told
the judge that he was sorry.
“The judge told him that at that
time, it was meaningless.”
Endicott has learned to live
life with an artificial knee, an ar
tificial hip, cortisone injections
and constant pain. But he has
learned to live.
“You know, my outlook now
is that every day is a gift,” he
says. “You have to make the
most of it. I think back and I
remember the EMT that lost his
life on the road. It was a bad
day on the road. I might be in
ch ro n ic pain and co n stan t
m eds... but I’m here. I’m still
here.”
Today, E n d ico tt lives in
Redmond. He spends his time
in his wood shop, making clocks
and toys for his one year-old
grandson, Ukiah.
Brought to you by KWSO 91.9 FM
W ater aerobics class will
be held at Kah-Nee-Ta this
m o rn in g fro m 9 :1 5 to
10:15.
Project reports are due
today for recipients of Cul
tural Trust Grants. Reports
may be subm itted at the
Museum.
K iksh t lang ua ge class
w ill be this evening from
5:30 to 7:30.
Parents of WS Elemen
tary students m ay return
blue folders by Monday.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4
Today is w ater delivery
day in Simnasho.
M a d ra s High S ch oo l
Graduation Day. The gates
will open at 2:00 p.m. The
c e re m o n y b e g in s at 3.
Buses leave for the all-night
party at 7:30 p.m.
MONDAY, JUNE 6
Scholarship night will be
gin in th e M a d ra s H igh
S c h o o l C o m m o n s w ith
dessert at 6:45 p.m. The
pre se n ta tio n w ill start at
7:00.
THURSDAY, JUNE 2
N .A . w ill m e e t at th e
Family Resource Center at
7:00 p.m.
Madras High School will
have its all-school awards
cerem ony at 7:00 p.m. in
the Commons.
T here is a 2-h ou r late
start for 509-J.
T h e re
w ill
be
a
glucometer class from 2:00
to 3:00 p.m. at the Health
and W e lln e s s C e n te r
kitchen conference room.
W o m e n ’s
S u p p o rt
Group will meet at Victims
of Crime at 6:00 p.m.
“The Spirit of the Sacred
F lute” gathering will take
p la c e th is w e e k e n d at
HeHe. there is no fee for
vendors. The welcom e fire
w ill begin at 6 p.m. For
more information, call Fos
te r K a la m a at 5 4 1 -3 2 5 -
3797.
The Nez Perce Tribal El
der Day will go from 7:00
a .m . to 2 :0 0 p .m . at
C le a rw a te r R iver C asino
Event Center in Lewiston,
ID.
There’s a food handler’s
class from 2-4:00 p.m. in
the Health and W ellness
Center atrium.
N .A. w ill m e e t at the
Family Resource Center at
7:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 11
“Spring into A ction” will
be held today from 9:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the
C o m m u n ity C e n te r and
E lm er Quinn Park. This
event is sponsored by the
Warm Springs Prevention
Coalition.
MONDAY, JUNE 13
Klamath Tribe members, al- !
though exactly when remains
a mystery.
“I would imagine that be
cause they’re exposed to the
elements that they’re probably
not 10,000 years old, but they
were probably created before .
any Euro-Americans were liv- .
ing in the area.”
The national forest has p
called in an expert to exam
ine the pictographs and see
whether they can be restored.
The vandals could face j
m isd em ean o r or felo ny
charges under the Archaeo
logical Resources Protection
Act. A local caving group has
started a reward fund for in
formation leading to an ar
rest.
;
,
Visit from youth symphony
Yvonne Iverson/Spilyay
The elementary school students enjoy the concert.
The Interlude Orchestra of
the Metropolitan Youth Sym
phony in Portland took a day trip
and visited several schools in
Jefferson County. T heir first
stop was at Warm Springs E l
ementary.
T he M etro p o litan Y outh
Today in Carol’s Room,
there will be board games
and work on the pumpkin
patch from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.
G lu c o m e te r c la s s is
from 2:00 to 3:00 this after
noon at the H ealth and
W ellne ss C enter kitchen
conference room.
Symphony, lead by conductor
Nita Van Pelt, -is a non-profit or
ganization that provides musi
cal training to young musicians
with thirteen performing groups.
Yearly enrollment is more than
500 students, from six years
through college age.
fCM> STEIßE©
'
Victims of Crime will hold
its weekly W om en’s Sup
port Meeting this evening
from 6:00 to 8:00.
fiOUNDZ
UNLIMITED
1225 SW Hwy. 97
Madras, OR 97741
475-7123
TUESDAY, JUNE 14
ours Repair
ih
& Auto Sales
TUESDAY, JUNE 7
A.A. w ill m eet at noon
upstairs in the Community
Counseling Center.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3
M a d ra s H igh S c h o o l
graduation practice will be
gin in the gym lobby at 8:30
a.m.
hearing on the child Care
Development Fund today at
ECE, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00
p.m. The public is invited
to comment.
The U.S. Forest Service is
trying to find out who van
dalized a popular cave in
Central Oregon.
Authorities say extensive
dam age w as done to the
cave’s natural and cultural
features.
The vandalism occurred
sometime in late April at the
Hidden Forest Cave in the
Deschutes National Forest.
Vandals chopped down
trees and set a fire inside the
cave. They also spray-painted
extensively both outside and
insid e the cave, covering
N ative A m erican p ic to
graphs.
Penni Borghi, archeologist
with the Deschutes National,
says the paintings were likely
made by Warm Springs or
“My outlook now
is that every day
is a gift... You
have to make the
most of it. ”
Warm Springs Community Calendar
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1
Pictographs damaged
A driver’s license prepa
ration cla ss w ill be held
from 3:45 to 5:45 p.m. at
Madras High School for stu
dents ages 15 to 18. Cost
is $25 p e r p e rs o n and
space is limited. For more
in fo rm a tio n , p le a se call
541-553-3591.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8
W ater aerobics class will
be held at Kah-Nee-Ta this
m o rn in g fro m 9 :1 5 to
10:15.
K iksht language class
w ill be this evening from
5:30 to 7:30.
330 S.W.
Culver Hwy.
Madras
<^r
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