live or die

after several years as a driller underground in the hardrock mines of ontario grampa got too much rock dust in his lungs;(there was no health and safety watch for workers back then) the doc told him he needed to get out of the mines for a while to heal up. between the time of mining and when he headed west to homestead in alberta grampa worked in the logging camps of northern quebec. while up there he and some other loggers were crossing a frozen lake when grampa went through the ice into the water. his buds were able to pull him out of the water but it was so cold that by the time they got him to camp his feet were frozen and turning black. it took a couple of days to get him to a doctor, "he pulled the skin off my feet like taking off a pair of socks". the doc told grampa he would need to have his feet amputated. grampa told him "i will live or die but i will live or die with my feet." in the days of no social safety net a serious injury like this would be a real wreck! his recovery was slow and painfull; he was helped out by the hemples who were from the same part of ireland as grampa and who were his lifelong friends. after healing up, grampa headed west to look up sandy....another adventure on the horizon....