In March of 2019 Adam Egerter was diagnosed with stage four medulloblastoma, brain cancer at eight years old. Within 10 days of his diagnosis, Adam had undergone surgery at McMaster University Medical Centre and began his treatment plan. During this time, the Egerter family made frequent trips to their family cottage to escape the reality of Adam’s treatments and to create childhood memories that didn’t revolve around hospitals. Adam enjoyed his time at the cottage, tubing, boating and being an active outdoorsman. However, one morning when the Egerter family was getting ready to enjoy another day at the cottage, Adam woke up with troubling symptoms which led to a transport with Ornge.
 
On August 6 of that same year, Adam, who was eight at the time, woke up and knew something was wrong. His father, Jay Egerter, also realized that his son’s symptoms were out of the ordinary.
 
“He started to oddly complain that he had numbness and tingling and couldn’t feel his face,” said Egerter. “We didn’t know if it had to do with sun stroke or a bug bite or anything along those lines. I proceeded to take him into town to the Lindsay hospital.”
 
Egerter loaded his son into their truck and began driving to Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay. While on route, Adam’s symptoms began to worsen. He was having trouble speaking, couldn’t comprehend when his father spoke to him, and eventually went incoherent. This is when Egerter called 9-1-1, and the local ambulance service met Egerter and his son on the side of the highway.
 
“At that time, I was on the phone with the 9-1-1 operator,” said Egerter. “They dispatched local paramedics who met me in Fenelon Falls in the ambulance. They loaded Adam up there and proceeded to transport him to Lindsay hospital, and I followed behind.”
 
Egerter, a volunteer firefighter, was no stranger to stressful situations. Though he was concerned about his son’s condition given his pre-existing conditions and the symptoms from earlier that continued to progress. Once at the hospital, the staff at Ross Memorial agreed that Adam needed to be transferred for a higher level of care. Shortly after, an Ornge transport crew arrived at the hospital to take Adam to McMaster Children’s Hospital.
 
“When the Ornge paramedics stepped into the room, they told me they were taking control of everything and they would be in charge, and they told me every single thing that they were going to do, and I had zero questions,” said Egerter. “I never questioned their decisions.”
 
Egerter was transported with his son to the Kawartha Lakes Municipal Airport using the local paramedic service, with the Ornge paramedics, to an awaiting Ornge helicopter. The paramedics loaded Adam into the helicopter as the transport crew went over the last few details of the flight with Egerter.
 

 
“They told me it was going to be a 28-minute flight, and it was lift off to touchdown almost exactly 28 minutes,” said Egerter.
 
The Ornge pilots landed in a field near McMaster University Medical Centre where a local ambulance was ready to pick up Adam. From there, Ornge paramedics seamlessly passed along Adam’s care. Upon arrival at the hospital, medical staff began running tests and ordered a CT scan. It was at this point that Adam woke up.
 
“He remembers leaving the cottage and then waking up at Mac. He has no recollection of the flight, the ambulance, anything like that,” said Egerter. “It is a good thing in a way, just because he didn't have to experience it. He left the rest of us to bear it.”
   
Adam stayed a total of three days at McMaster with no conclusive cause of his symptoms, but he made a full recovery.
 
Today, Adam is 15 years old in high school with good grades and continues to enjoy the outdoors whether he is riding his dirt bike, fishing, or hunting. Adam has also cleared his cancer, and doctors at routine check-ups note nothing of concern.
 
“We strive to get him to normal and he’s pretty close to normal. He wears hearing aids because of his cancer treatments and he’s on several meds and procedures like that but basically as normal as he can be,” said Egerter.
 
Jay Egerter, Adam, and the rest of their family thank Ornge for their part in helping their son that day. We appreciate and acknowledge the care and coordination of the pilots, paramedics, and Operations Control Centre staff from that day.
 
“My family is forever grateful for the emergency Ornge flight service. I don't know what we would have done without them in our unique situation or what may have happened to our son on that day,” said Egerter. “Keep up the great work!”
 
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• Patients and Families