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Buried Alive
A central Alberta woman's journey from tragedy to triumph
by Betty Rue
$23.58
Chapter One - A Devastating Nightmare
May 9, 1990 was just another morning like those in the past – bright and sunny like a breath of fresh air. Ray was preparing his breakfast of coffee, toast, bacon and eggs while I made his lunch for work. We ate breakfast together; he gave me a big kiss and he departed. I watched him from the patio of our acreage home. He loaded his backhoe on the trailer behind his truck to dig in a sewer and water line in Red Deer. He chained down his backhoe, waved goodbye and drove out of sight. I finished sipping my coffee, did my morning work and left for the Auxiliary Hospital before noon to care for an Alzheimer patient. I had an appointment later at about 2 p.m. but before that time, I became very sick instantly so I went home instead. I phoned and cancelled my appointment.
The phone rang approximately 15 minutes later so I answered it. “Hello, is this Mrs. Raymond Rue?”, came a voice, in which I replied “Yes”. “The ditch your husband was working in, caved in on him.” "Oh no”, I exclaimed, “is he okay?”. “He’s on the way to the hospital by ambulance! He just about didn’t make it – paramedics worked on him for over 20 minutes before they could get him to breathe properly. They even had to use the paddles on him.” “Oh thank you, thank you”, I replied. “I’ll leave right away!”
Immediately the thoughts went through my mind of a friend of ours who was buried in his ditch. My husband found him, but it was too late – he was dead. Ray got very sick after finding him - it was such a shock. He ended up sick in bed for several days with blood poisoning and very bad nerves due to the trauma.
I grabbed my keys and purse, jumped in the car and took off. I don’t know how fast I drove that 12 kilometers to the hospital, how long it took me or how I even made it but I do remember screaming, crying and praying that the Lord wouldn’t let him die. That He would help him through this mess and would bring him back to me. I believed in prayer as I became a Christian in my early teens. Ray and I were both born again Christians and faithful members in our church.
Upon arriving at the hospital emergency, I could hear someone yelling and talking crazy – I found out it was Ray. I spoke to him, he looked at me and said “Hi, Betty”, but was back yelling and carrying on again. This was not like him to be loud and roudy like he was. The staff told me it was due to a lack of oxygen to the brain – he was buried under the clay and dirt too long. He was covered with mud and clay from head to toe as it had rained some before the ditch caved in.
In the next room was Ray’s friend the plumber who was also taken to the hospital by ambulance from exhaustion. He found Ray with only an elbow sticking out of the mud and clay in the ditch. He immediately yelled and called for help while trying to shovel him out himself. We were so thankful for those who worked so hard to save his life.
Ray was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. I thanked God so much for bringing the one I loved back to me. It was a miracle he could have possibly come through this terrible tragedy.
Chapter Two - Another Calamity
Ray had been in the Intensive Care Unit for two days following the cave-in of his sewer and water line ditch which buried him alive. On the morning of the third day, I received a phone call from the hospital saying he could go home. This disturbed me very much so I questioned the doctor why he was sending him home so soon. I mentioned he was so puffy, flushed, extremely tired and contented to lay in bed which was not like him at all. “He can rest at home as well as here”, replied the doctor. “I’ve already told him he can go home.” “Alright”, I replied, “I’ll be in to get him right away.”
I heard a strange sound, I turned quickly and here his head had dropped forward. I ran to his side and shook him frantically, calling his name but to no avail. Immediately his face became disfigured - his mouth drooped open on one side and his breathing became very heavy.
Out of the room I ran and into the hall calling frantically, “Nurse, nurse – my husband just had a stroke!” Nurses seemed to come out of the woodwork and immediately he was put on a stretcher and rushed across the hall where he was hooked up to everything he could be hooked up to. I phoned our boys and in no time they were there to stand by mom in this terrible calamity that had happened to our loved one. X-rays were taken and the doctor told us he had a severe stroke which destroyed 2/3 of the left side of his brain and was in a coma. We met with the specialist the next morning and he told us there was no possible way he could live with that kind of damage to the brain. “If by some miracle he did – he’d be nothing but a vegetable.” He was only 59 yrs old. What a nightmare!!