His story begins in The Pas at the end of July on a gloriously warm July day, and will turn 10 on August 2 in a few more days.

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His best buddy Kenny Hurd and he had planned an adventure.

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With pockets full of wooden matches, they were to ride their bikes over the Carrot Bi-way into the farming valley and burn down slough grass on his Dad's farm. They were well prepared with 2 cans of pork and beans , a can opener and 2 canteens. They spent the day, a blistering hot day moving from slough to slough - starting fires. They biked home just in time for supper. Were they ever tired.

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After supper they headed down the street to the Dr's house where his daughter had organized a pick up cricket game.  He played, but he was really tired. The next morning he was burning up and very weak.

The Dr's diagnosis was "Polio".  He was immediately hospitalized, and his Mom and 3 siblings were quarantined. He got worse and could hardly breathe.  The nurse was constantly suctioning his mouth and throat.

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Lam Airways dispatched an Otter pontoon plane and flew him to Winnipeg - him, a nurse and 2 pilots.  He's unconscious 

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The pilot later visited him in the hospital and told him the story of that flight. On the way to Winnipeg, the plane blew a piston, they made an Emergency landing on a lake and a smaller plane came to the rescue.  They almost had to rip the door off the smaller plane to get the stretcher and oxygen equipment in, and they did get him and all the equipment in.

 

They landed on the Red River where a waiting ambulance rushed him to the King George Hospital, where an immediate tracheotomy was performed (basically cutting a hole in his throat so he could breathe.

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He stayed in an Iron Lung in the King George Hospital, eventually in a rocking bed until he was transferred to the Princess Elizabeth Hospital for Convalescence and Rehabilitation.

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The first step was surgery to help strengthen his legs. The next step was the process of fitting braces and learning to walk with crutches.

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He was more fortunate than many of the other kids on his ward - because his Dad had purchased a $10,000 Polio Insurance Policy. In 1954 a $10,000 policy went a long way providing the extra surgeries and equipment.

Hi Da farmed in The PAs for 3 years and was frozen out three times.  He sold the farm and then worked full-time diamond drilling "up North".

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In Grade 6 he grew up in Winnipeg, attending Grade 6 at Clifton School, then Grades 7,8 and 9 at Sargent Park School and High school at Daniel McIntyre.

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He was reunited with his family for about a year when his Mom was hospitalized with Tuberculosis.  She spent 2 years in a Sanatorium while his Dad continued to work up north.

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His youngest sister and brother stayed with family in Flin Flon.  His younger sister with a cousin in BC.  He elected to stay in Winnipeg with a foster family.

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Two years passed by. One year with a Ukrainian working-class family, a welder, his wife and two children.  One year with a family with 2 boys, who who also had polio.

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Then Mom put their family back together in Winnipeg's west end.  They lived in an apartment above a restaurant that was home for many years.

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The summer between Grades 11 and 12, he worked in a construction camp up north for a power dam.

Then thanks to the Children's Aid Society of Manitoba and Allied Farm Equipment a job opened up as a Kardex clerk in 1960 in charge of Inventory Control.  He worked his way up from Kardex to Accounts Payable and then Cost Control clerk with a subsidiary Algo Manufacturing (they made hydraulic cylinders and hose fittings).

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A crusty old manager convinced him to enroll in the RIA program (now renamed the CMA Accounting Program). This led to accepting the Office Supervisor's position with Dauphin Co-op. During his 7.5 years in Dauphin he married his first wife Karen, when his daughter and son were born.

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In total he had 38 years of service with the Co-op system in both retail and leadership roles.

 

While attending Daniel Mac he stated his intention to study Accounting, as noted in his yearbooks. That career ambition was fulfilled. Class of 1959-63.

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Written/Shared by: Dawn Hunter and Christopher Muir (Charles' children)