MELFORT — A life-saving helicopter has been named after a Melfort community figure in honour of his efforts to support the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS).
STARS’ newest $13 million Airbus H145 bears the registration mark C-GFRG, with FRG standing for Founder Rod Gantefoer. The helicopter is the fifth of ten needed to replace the air ambulance’s fleet across Western Canada.
“It was really unexpected and an honour,” Rod Gantefoer said at a ceremony at the Melfort Hospital heliport on June 28, adding that he knew the helicopter had been flying in missions over the past few weeks.
Gantefoer was instrumental in establishing STARS’ operations in the province a decade ago and led the STARS Foundation in Saskatchewan for a number of years. Most recently he led fundraising efforts to build the new heliport at the Melfort Hospital.
He was also an MLA for Melfort from 1995 to 2011.
Jessi Fredin, who was raised in Pleasantdale, was one person who had her life changed by STARS. In 2016, she was flown by STARS after being critically injured in a motor vehicle crash
After she recovered and returned to school, she knew she wanted to become a paramedic.
“I wanted Rod Gantefoer to know how much he had indirectly impacted my life without even meeting me,” she said.
Andrea Robertson, president and CEO of STARS, said the naming of the helicopter is about paying tribute to the man who brought STARS to Saskatchewan and helped it flourish.
“It's an acknowledgement of one person's unbelievable perseverance to make something happen.”
The president called the helicopter a generational investment for the people of Saskatchewan, with it expected to fly for at least 30 years. She added it was appropriate acknowledgement to have Gantefoer’s name flying overhead for decades and decades to come.
Scott Moe, Saskatchewan’s premier, said that when he was just an MLA, Gantefoer met with him on a number of occasions to make sure that he knew how important STARS was to Saskatchewan’s communities.
“Rod has always understood that everyone has to be involved in order for STARS to be successful in the long term – and that includes government. He very much was an advocate to individuals and to whatever level he could be within government,” Moe said.
“He is an exceptional man with an exceptional career in the community, exceptional career in the province, and an ongoing, exceptional effort that he's giving to the STARS organization.”
Gantefoer himself pointed to the work that has been done by others over the years.
“Everybody is more dedicated than they know to healthcare. It isn't a political issue. It isn't a New Democrat or Conservative or Sask. Party issue, it's the people of Saskatchewan working together to get things done,” he said
“Too often in the past, our communities would compete with each other and do more harm to each other than good to the people that they served. It's good to see people in the northeast come together and say: okay, let's do what we can to work together and put things where they fit best, and have everybody support each other.”
STARS said that while it has millions of dollars yet to raise, it hopes to wrap up its fundraising campaign by the end of the year and see the remainder of the new fleet arrive and enter service across Western Canada through 2022.
