A photo taken of Markel Evans and his wife Michele Harris, along with their four children. (gofundme)

By Nigel Maxwell

Community Support

Over $36K raised for Birch Hills family following ‘freak accident’

Nov 4, 2020 | 5:00 PM

Over $36,000 has been raised in the time span of 24 hours to assist a family in Birch Hills, after a freak accident paralyzed the husband and father from the waist down.

Last Sunday, Markel Evans was part of a six person crew blasting a beaver dam in the Crutwell area. His wife Michele Harris later got the call that he was on his way by ambulance to the hospital in Prince Albert. Harris explained to paNOW it was a routine job, one that her husband had done a thousand times over.

“If there is one that went wrong, this was the one. It was a complete freak accident,” she said.

Evans was down on his knees when the debris started to fly, and he tried his best to crawl out of the way.

“Mark even said if he had been a foot over on either side from where he was, he would have been okay,” Harris explained.

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The force from the blast caused a big chunk of ice to come crashing down, crushing Evans’ vertebrae, as well breaking his ribs on the left side of his body and puncturing his lung. Evans would lie in the snow for about an hour before being transported to hospital in Prince Albert.

“But that being said, that probably did him more good to lay there kind of preserved,” Harris said, adding she is very thankful the other men were there too or the outcome could have been much different.

Evans would eventually be air lifted from Prince Albert to hospital in Saskatoon, where he remains after undergoing surgery. Due to COVID-19, hospital visits have not been an option for the family with the exception of one, one-hour visit on Monday. Harris said she and her husband have been texting back and forth everyday, and their kids have been able to see their dad by way of video chat.

“My bigger kids, they are taking it quite hard. They understand what’s going on,” Harris said, explaining doctors have explained the chances of Evans being able to walk again are very slim.

To help the family with costs, a gofundme page was created and over the course of 24 hours, raised the incredible amount of money. Harris said she is feeling completely overwhelmed by the support from the community and elsewhere.

“There’s people I don’t even know that have shared our gofundme page and it’s phenomenal. It’s unbelievable,” she said.

Family friend Kelsey McDonald created the online fundraising account, and also expressed to paNOW how grateful she was for the support.

“The love and support this family has gotten from family and friends brings tears to my eyes. Even within the community makes me smile,” she said.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell