Young man nearly drowns at Lake
HEPPNER
L-R: Matt Chetwood, Mike Hammons, Randy VanEtta
imes
VOL. 114
NO. 33
6 Pages Wednesday, August 2, 1995,
Morrow County Heppner, Oregon
Princess Michelle enjoys summer on court
Princess
|
Michelle Meakins
Height: 5 '4 "
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brunette
Parents: Rob & Lynna
Age: 18 years old
Activities: Golf, camping,
boating, fishing, sports,
outdoors
Michelle Meakins, 18, a
princess on the 1995 Morrow
County Fair and Oregon Trail
Pro Rodeo Court, "cut her
teeth" participating in horse
shows and in fairs during her
growing up years.
The daughter of Rob and
Lynna M eakins, Princess
Michelle is a lifelong resident of
the Irrigon area. Her roots in
the horse world go back to tod
dler days. Along with her older
brother, Scott, and a younger
brother, Eric, the family has
grown up with horses.
However, it was sometimes
difficult to tell where the
M eakins family left off.
Michelle's mother, Lynna, a
long-time 4-H horse club
leader, would load up the fami
ly and as many neighboring
kids and horses as their large
trailer would hold. That ex
tended family type group
would be off for a weekend
horse show, some of which
were staged by Lynna's club.
From the time that she was
a small child with a winning
smile, this princess has con
tinued to capture a roomful of
ribbons and trophies with
horses as well as with her rab
bits, swine and goat projects.
Although she has added court
responsibilities this year, she
will again be showing her rab
bits, pigs and horse during fair
events.
"Meeting other people, go
ing to different places and mak
ing new friends" are the perks
of court life, according to
Princess Michelle. In the past,
she says she had admired court
members, but she did not think
it would be possible for her to
attain that role due to her fami
ly 's work schedule. Both
{parents are truck drivers who
leave home at 2 a.m.
"T h e y surprised m e ,"
M ichelle says, when her
parents supported her decision
to try out for the court.
However, it is no surprise that
these 4-H parents feel that
court members fulfill an impor
tant role in the promotion of
fair and rodeo, according to
Rob, a former fair board
member. Michelle has also
been supported by a friend,
Becky Meads, who has been on
hand when it comes to washing
horses, grooming and prepar
ing for parades.
A 1995 graduate of Riverside
High School, Michelle says this
has been a whirlwind summer
that takes an incredible amount
of time. But everything has
gone smoothly, unlike the
more hectic days of traveling to
horse shows when "the unex
pected always happened."
There was one slight incident
when a substitute court horse,
appropriately named "Id iot"
tried to climb over the box stall
walls at the Sisters rodeo. That
horse ended up spending the
night in their stock trailer.
Michelle plans to attend the
University of Oregon this fall
with intentions of becoming a
child
psychologist. Her
memories of high school years
are filled with friends and
sports, particularly par
ticipating on the golf team. Her
other interests include camp
ing, boating, fishing and enjoy
ing the outdoors.
During their many mounted
appearances, Princess Michelle
has relied on a 15 year-old
quarterhorse gelding named
"B e t Ima Bonanza". This
year's three girl court presents
a striking picture in their formal
attire of burgundy split skirt
riding outfits with cream and
blue accents. With an abun
dance of poise, personality and
enthusiasm, these Morrow
County ambassadors are look
ing forward to a fast-paced fair
and rodeo where they will star
as hosts.
Princess Michelle (center) gets help from dad and mom (Rob
and Lynna) loading horse trailer in preparation for parades.
By April Sykes
A young Heppner man
would have drowned in Willow
.Creek Lake Friday had it not
been for the quick re
sponse of his two teenage
friends.
Mike Hammons, 22, Hepp
ner, was swimming at the lake
around 4p.m. July 28 with two
friends, Matt Chetwood and
Randy VanEtta, both 17 and
also of Heppner, when Ham
mons apparently had a seizure
and went face-down in the
water.
VanEtta said that he had just
gotten off work and the three
decided to take a swim at the
lake. He said that he and Ham
mons were in the water and
Chetwood had just gotten out
of the water when the incident
occurred. "H e (Hammons)
looked toward me and said,
'Oh no, not again,"' said
VanEtta. " I asked him what
was wrong," said Chetwood,
"and he said, 'Don't look at
m e'." VanEtta said at that
point it looked like Hammons'
left eye rolled back into his
head and he slipped into the
water. Hammons had been
hanging on to the end of the
dock.
"A t first I thought he was
just joking around,” said Van
Etta. "H e had his face in the
water and just floated there,"
added
Chetwood.
"W e
thought he was just kidding.
He does that. But then we
realized he couldn't stay under
that long."
Chetwood and VanEtta esti
mate that Hammons was pro
bably under the water for
around two minutes and then
the two boys jumped into ac
tion. VanEtta grabbed Ham
mons and Chetwood grabbed
VanEtta's hand to help him out
of the water.
By the time VanEtta lifted
Hammons' head out of the
water, Hammons' ears and lips
were blue and his face was
white. "H e looked like he was
dead," said VanEtta. "H e was
dead," added Chetwood.
Both boys pulled him out of
the water and laid him on the
dock. "Right when we got him
out of the water, he wasn't
breathing," said Chetwood. "I
pushed him on the chest a cou
ple times and he started
breathing." They then turned
him on his side in case he had
to throw up lake water.
Then, one of two women
who were at the dock ran to call
the ambulance. Chetwood and
VanEtta said that the am
bulance arrived in around 10 to
15 minutes and administered
oxygen, but it was another 20
minutes or so before the rescue
personnel could get him on a
stretcher because by then Ham
mons, in a semi-conscious
state, had started thrashing and
fighting.
Both boys went to the emer
gency room and saw Ham
mons before he was airlifted
out to Portland and Chetwood
went to see him after he return
ed. VanEtta happened to see
him at the Drive-In Sunday.
"H e came up and gave me a
hug," Van Etta said. "H e
thanked us and said he owes us
his life."
The boys said that before the
incident they probably went
swimming at the dam two or
three times a week. While
VanEtta says that he will go
again, Chetwood says he's not
so sure when or if he will swim
at the lake again. "I don't want
to go up there yet,” said Chet
wood. "I'll think about it every
time I go up there," said
VanEtta, "but it won't stop me
from going swimming."
Chetwood said that he had
taken CPR when he was a
seventh grader. VanEtta said
that he had just finished a
course in CPR and First Aid re
quired by the Forest Service,
his employer.
Ironically, when Hammons
arrived at Pioneer Memorial
Hospital, his mother, Glorene
Baker, Heppner, was already
there. She had come to the
PMH emergency room with
her father, Mel Hammons,
Hardman, who, they believed,
had suffered a heart attack.
" I was totally numb," said
Glorene Baker. " I couldn't
believe what was going on. I
was going back and forth from
the emergency room. My mind
was going a million miles a
minute."
Fortunately, it was determin
ed that Baker's father had suf
fered a heat stroke and not a
heart attack.
When Mike woke up he was
in the emergency room. His
mother said that he was still
having trouble breathing and
that the doctor told her that his
heartbeat was erratic. She said
that after pressure on his heart
from water and a large air bub
ble was relieved that his heart
began to stabilize.
After Mike stabilized he was
sent to Oregon Health Sciences
University Hospital via Life
Flight.
Glorene Baker said that the
last she heard before she took
off to OHSU was that they may-
have to perform an emergency
tracheotomy en route. The doc
tor on the helicopter told her
that they had the equipment in
case they had to perform the
surgery during the flight.
Glorene herself took off on a
"flying trip" to Portland by car,
accompanied by her sister and
brother-in-law, Jeanine and Er
nie Dilley, Heppner, and a
friend, Sheryl Carty. Glorene's
other children, Sarah, 14, and
Beth, 12, stayed with the Dilley
children, Jennifer, 12, and
Chris, 10, Friday night. Beth
said that she "tried not to think
about it" until the kids receiv
ed word about Mike.
Glorene said that they were
finally able to get a motel and
get to bed around 3 a.m., after
talking with doctors and nurses
and learning that Mike was go
ing to be okay. She called the
other children around 8 a.m.
Saturday morning to tell them
the good news.
Mike was released from the
hospital Saturday and his
mother and aunt and uncle
brought him back to Heppner.
He is pretty sore from struggl
ing against the straps that held
him down and is suffering from
bronchitis. His mother says
that he's supposed to take it
easy over the next several days
and still could develop pneu
monia.
While the immediate emer
gency is over, Mike still faces
a battery of tests to determine
what exactly caused the seiz
ure. According to his mother,
he may have had a seizure on
one other occasion around four
and a half years ago, but
they're just not sure. Doctors
told her then that they couldn't
find anything wrong and that
if he had no more seizures
within a five-year period he
probably wouldn't again.
For the time being, though,
his mother is very grateful. "If
the boys hadn't pulled him out,
he definitely wouldn't have
made it," she said. "It's quite
a relief. It's a miracle. If they
hadn't been there, he would
have been dead."
Health district rejects
Boss' counter offer
By April Sykes
The Morrow County Health
District Board, at its meeting Ju
ly 31, rejected a counter offer
from Dr. Robert Boss on his
current contract.
The board had earlier agreed
to grant Boss, who operates the
Boardman clinic, an increase of
$2,000 in salary per month un
der the condition that he agree
to a full audit of his operations.
Boss's counter offer proposed
a "limited audit".
The board previously agreed
to an increase of $6,000 per year
for the clinic and capital ex
penses if a full audit was com
pleted. The action was an ad
dendum to Boss' current four-
year contract which will expire
May 1, 19%.
The increase would have put
the district's annual payments
to Dr. Boss at $154,000, with an
additional $26,000 to be put in
to a reserve account for clinic
and capital expenses.
Continued page 2
Football camp Aug. 7-11
South Morrow County foot
ball camp, offered by the
H eppner-Ione junior and
senior high school coaches for
grades 5-12 will be held August
7-11, from 4:30-8:30 p.m. at the
Heppner High School.
TTie cost of the camp is $25,
which includes a choice of a
shirt or hat.
Sign up forms are available at
the Heppner and lone high
schools and Murray Drugs in
Heppner and Condon. Early
registration is not necessary as
forms will be accepted until the
start of the camp.
For more information, call
Greg Grant at 676-5257.
Harvest Hoars
Mon-Fri 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat. 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
Wasco Mon-Fri 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Morrow County Grain Growers
Lexington 989-8221
1-800-452-7396