In November of 2008 Joel and Jordan Scott were paddling with their classmates on WI.L.D. when Joel suddenly flipped up-side-down and made no attempt to roll up. He had gone into cardiac arrest while paddling in class II and subsequent to his heart stopping he stopped breathing and drowned. Quickly, and without hesitation Jordan extracted Joel from his kayak, swam him to shore and started rescue breathing and CPR. The rest of his classmates jumped into action and resuscitated Joel by “lighting him up” with an AED. The group then continued their rescue efforts getting Joel to the closest hospital and after a few days back to Canada by air ambulance. Within two weeks of suffering both drowning and cardiac arrest on a river in remote Mexico, Joel, made a miraculous 100% recovery.
This would be enough of a happy ending for most ordinary people. however, for those of you who know the Scott brothers… they are far from ordinary. Just four months after the incident Joel and Jordan arrived back in Mexico to complete their expedition where they left off. A surprise arrival left the Esprit Mexico crew speechless. Caleb Nelson was ”blown” away to be joined by his friends that he last saw off the tarmac in veracruz as Joel was being airlifter to Canada.
The following days paddle was surreal. Joel, Jordan and the entire Esprit Mexico went back to the incident site (now known as Joel’s Rapid) and put in to complete the final 5km back to Jalcomulco. En route the Esprit crew recounted the events to Joel as if they had just happened yesterday. The trip was completed without incident… Mission Accomplished!
It was a great experience to “close the chapter” of Joel’s incident, rescue and recovery. I felt honoured to paddle with everyone there… students that came to WILD not knowing how to do CPR… have now used their training to save their friend and classmates life… an experience that will never be forgotten.
