Senator Jason Atkinson almost DIED after helping a friend

A year ago, Senator Jason Atkinson thought he was doing a favor for a friend.  See, Atkinson can fix bikes and someone asked him to give his two-wheeler a tune up.  What  the Senator did not know, was that there was a bag on the back of the bike holding a gun.  When Atkinson took the bag off and tossed it on the floor, the gun went off shattering his femur and ripping through an artery.

If not for quick thinking by his wife to apply pressure and fashion a rudimentary tourniquet out of spare tubing, he would have bled to death on the floor of his workshop.

But he survived, spent a year in recovery, unsure if he could save his leg.  And when his leg was safe, having to learn how to walk again.

Now, he walks with a limp, deals with constant pain, but says he’s GRATEFUL for the experience.

See, Atkinson says he now has a better understanding of what it’s like for people living with constant pain, people who have lost limbs and feels he can serve the community better with that knowledge.

He lives everyday with greater happiness and gratitude than ever before.   Whether you agree with his politics, I think we can all give Jason Atkinson a thumbs up today.

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16' Cataraft

We don’t know why it flipped, but a 14′ kayak tipped itself over, dumping its middle-aged passenger into the frigid Clackamas River on Saturday.  While rescue teams scrambled to scoop him out of the water, the skipper clung to a rock.  Water rescue teams used a special 16 foot boat (a model is pictured left)  to get across the choppy waves and drag the man to the nearby shore.  He had to get checked by a doctor but the good news is he is in one piece and doing just fine.

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A small piece of hamburger has earned Dave DeMastus a hero’s reception in Keizer.  DeMastus is the head custodian at Kennedy Elementary.  

Last month, a third-grade boy was munching on a burger in the cafeteria, when a piece of his lunch went down the wrong pipe and got stuck.  Staying calm, DeMastus jumped into action and Hemlich’d the piece of meat back out.

The kid was fine and went back to class while DeMastus went back about his day.  But the Keizer Fire District heard the story and awarded DeMastus their Bob Wickman Lifesaving Award.  

Dave DeMastus, we salute you!

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It sounds like a scene out of a classic Mr. Magoo cartoon.  A 78-year-old man drives his car onto train tracks in Oregon City.  A massive locomotive barells into the sedan, smashing it from behind and driving it 2,000 feet before coming to a stop . . . and the driver walks away without a scratch.

It happened this week in Canemah, believe it or not.  The 78-year-old man got his car stuck on the tracks and drove a ways looking for help.  At one point he did get out of his car to find someone with a phone, but was compelled to hop back in and wait for a tow truck once help was on the way.

Unfortunately, that was about the time the Union Pacific made it’s way through Oregon City and onto the old man’s bumper.  The train pushed him so far down the tracks, emergency crews had to carry the driver the length of a football field to get back to the ambulance.  He went to the hospital to get checked out but apparently that was just a precaution.

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