LIONS DOWN RIDERS
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WELL PLAYED Central Alberta comes alive with sounds of Central Music Festival
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CENTRAL ALBERTA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
BREAKING NEWS ONLINE AT WWW.REDDEERADVOCATE.COM
MONDAY, AUG. 20, 2012
Surpassing expectations A near-death experience has given 21-year-old Austin McGrath a new outlook on life
Photos by BRENDA KOSSOWAN/Advocate staff BY BRENDA KOSSOWAN ADVOCATE STAFF Debi McGrath had refused to go in the water ever since her son nearly died of a heart attack while they were swimming together on Friday, May 13, 2011. Then, at about 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, she dove off the pier at Sylvan Lake to join Austin, 22 for the last few minutes of a 7.5-kilometre swim he had just completed in front of his mom, his dad, Darryl and a few dozen others in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Red Deer area office. Austin said afterward that he didn’t realize at first that the person who jumped in with him was his mother, who was deeply traumatized by his heart attack and was unable to watch him train for Saturday’s event. “I was surprised. She wouldn’t even go near the water. I was going to cry, but I held it in because I didn’t want to cry in front of hundreds of people,” said Austin, wolfing down his seventh hamburger paddy since stroking his way across the southeast side of the lake to Petro Beach and back. He had expected to swim five kilometres in about three to four hours with hope of raising $5,000 to $10,000 to support Heart and Stroke Foundation research and programs. He ended up swimming farther than expected and in less time, completing the swim in 3.5 hours total time, including a break on the accompanying sail-
EYE OF THE TIGER
boat to have a lunch and rehydrate. Debi couldn’t watch. Helping organizers get her son’s project underway, the Red Deer mother’s hands shook and she fought back tears as she described the ordeal her only child had overcome in the months since his heart attack and the discovery that he is affected by a genetic heart disorder. Austin turned 21 in hospital on May 23, 201 — unconscious and struggling to survive. As his medical condition stabilized, he had to relearn how to sit up, how to talk and how to walk. Few people on the pier for his swim on Saturday were more amazed than Red Deer emergency services technician Tom Patrick, who was the first responder to the scene that fateful day at the Red Deer Rec Centre, were mom and son had gone to swim lengths together. Patrick had not seen McGrath since the day he and other members of his team were called to the pool, where they found an apparently lifeless man on the deck. Another swimmer and a lifeguard had been performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation while awaiting the ambulance. The emergency medical services team had to defibrillate three times to get the young athlete’s heart started.
Austin was rushed to hospital in Red Deer and then transferred to Foothills Hospital in Calgary, where he began what should have been a very long period of recovery. Patrick volunteered his time on Saturday to ride along in an accompanying sailboat in case of a medical emergency. He had been on vacation the day the family came by to thank members of his crew for their help, so found it “really rewarding” to get a chance to meet Austin and join his support crew on Saturday.
Please see MCGRATH on Page A2
Canadian salaries to jump in 2013 THE CANADIAN PRESS
Photo by MELISSA ARTHUR/Advocate staff
Damien Covey, 2, shows off his festive sombrero and face paint at the third-annual Fiestaval, a Latin American Festival, in downtown Red Deer Saturday. The free festival is open to all and celebrates Latin American culture through music, dancing, food and more. More coverage on the festival on Page C5.
PLEASE RECYCLE
TORONTO — A new study suggests Canadian employees can expect to see their salaries rise by an average of 2.9 per cent next year. That increase is slightly more than the 2.8 per cent increase projected for in 2012 and close to the three per cent increase expected south of the border in 2013. However, the rise is much lower than projected yearly increases of around 3.7 per cent before the 2008-2009 economic downturn. The survey of employers conducted by global management consulting firm Hay Group says workers in the mining, oil and gas, and chemicals fields will be the biggest winners. But those working in health care and in government are expected to receive the lowest increases. More than 500 Canadian organizations provided details of their planned salary adjustments for 2013 for the Hay Group survey, which was conducted in June and July. Workers in the oil and gas sector are expected to see a 3.9 per cent jump, followed by mining, at 3.6 per cent. “However, these higher forecasts are more of a reflection of the demand for key skills — and the competition for skilled talent — rather than ’boom times’,” the company writes in the report. By province, it is resource-rich regions that will lead the way. Alberta, with a 3.6 per cent increase will lead the country, followed by Newfoundland at 3.4 per cent Saskatchewan at 3.2 per cent. Those working in health care are expected to see
WEATHER
INDEX
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Four sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C3,C4 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D1-D5 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C5 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1-B6
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the most modest increases, at two per cent, followed by media employees, at 2.2 per cent and government and telecommunications workers, both at 2.3 per cent. Overall, the public sector —where governments are looking for cuts to slash deficits — is expected to see noticeably lower salary increases than the private sector.
LOCAL
ALBERTA
BIKERS REVITALIZE NEGLECTED PARK
PIPELINE DEADLINE
A team of dedicated mountain bikers turned their muscle and skills to sawing lumber, pulling nails and clearing garbage from a Red Deer city park that has fallen into disuse. C1
Alberta wants a review into the safety of its vast network of oil and natural gas pipelines to be completed by the end of November. A3