Brazeau County’s interim budget for the coming year contains what the County describes as “aggressive investment in the County, and continued relief for ratepayers.”
Council passed the budget December 1 after a series of meetings which took place in late November.
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The interim budget maintains the County’s long running freeze on municipal taxes, and for the seventh year, includes a 30 percent commercial businesses rebate. In addition, that rebate has once again been applied to both residential and farmland properties.
However, the most eye catching aspect of the budget is a plan to spend nearly $9.9 million on roads, equipment replacement, and other infrastructure. Highlight of those projects include:
Upgrades at the Brazeau Sports Park ball diamonds, which are conditional on matching grant funding.
Upgrades to the Lodgepole Campground to convert it to a group campground that will be available for rental once complete.
Upgrades to Range Road 73 between Twp Rd 502 and Hwy 624.
Cap seal treatment on Range Road 83.
Upgrades to Parview Estates Road.
Upgrades to Twp Road 485 (Riverside Trails) between Range Road 85 to Range Road 91
Work to improve ditches in Cynthia
“This is a very progressive budget that sees investment in all four corners of the County,” said Reeve Bart Guyon in a media release. “We know by investing in our people, they will invest in the county. We’ve seen our economic development focus pay off already, with a great deal of investment interest from cutting-edge technology companies looking to call Brazeau home.
“We heard clearly during the election that our citizens want tax relief and infrastructure, and by working together, this new council has delivered,” he added. “It was clear from voter turnout and the number of votes successful candidates received that this was the direction people want to go, and that’s the direction we’ve taken.”
The new training officer for the Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services comes to the position with a background in the military.
Matthew Noad started with the department at the beginning of June after relocating from Cold Lake’s military base.
Noad says he started working in fire services when he was 18 in Magrath, south of Lethbridge.
“I started fire fighting about as soon as I could,” says Noad.
He says during his time in Magrath, he worked with another man who had worked as a firefighter for the Canadian Military.
“I didn’t even know that there was firefighters in the military,” says Noad.
Noad started with the military in 2018 and completed basic training as well as some firefighter training in Borden, Ontario. Once that was done, he was stationed in Cold Lake.
Military firefighters are mostly stationed at the air force bases in Canada, says Noad, although the Edmonton Army Base also has military firefighters. The rest of the bases have firefighters under National Defence rather than the military.
The firefighters are responsible for the structures and personnel on the base, as well as the aircrafts. He says other than dealing with aircraft, most of the training that they receive is the same that an on-call volunteer would receive at a municipal fire department.
“We kind of become their insurance policy in a sense,” says Noad. “We’re the ones protecting it from fire and damage.”
He says they were basically trained in airport firefighting, which isn’t as much of an issue in Drayton. However, Noad didn’t spend a lot of time dealing with wildfires at the base, so he will also be learning some things during his time here.
After six years working mostly in Cold Lake as a training officer, Noad says he decided to go with a change of direction in his firefighting career. He says he saw the opportunity in Drayton Valley and was excited by the prospects.
Noad says working in Alberta was what he had preferred, having spent most of his life in the province. However, one of the perks of the community was that it was closer to the mountains than Cold Lake was, and his wife has some family in the area.
“I’m actually super excited to be here,” says Noad. “I’m excited to be working with such a committed group of volunteers and full-time staff.”
He says he was impressed watching the dedication the department had to looking out for the County and the Town during the wildfire season in 2023.
“That was one of the driving forces that brought me here,” he says. “There’s such a dedicated group of individuals that sacrificed their own time to be there for people on their worst days. With the extreme conditions that they were in, they did an excellent job with what they had.”
Noad says he highly encourages anyone who is interested in giving back to their community to apply to be a volunteer firefighter. Their next training recruitment is in the fall, but they accept applications throughout.
Anyone who is interested in applying can visit the Town office for an application or call the department at 780-514-2216.
Near tragedy draws family together
The question of whether a person should celebrate their father all year round or on one particular day has been answered for a local family.
On March 18, 2023, the Mockerman family’s lives took a drastic turn when Rob Mockerman was involved in an accident that left him with second and third degree burns to more than 85 percent of his body.
At 5:30 that evening, while his wife Trish and six-year-old son Aden were inside their house near Buck Creek cooking dinner, Mockerman went to his shop to give a tune up to a recently purchased snowmobile.
“We’d just got a new-to-us skidoo from a guy in Edmonton,” says Mockerman. Both he and Aden were excited to go try it out.
Unbeknownst to Mockerman, there was a fuel leak in the machine. When he first started the engine, it caught on fire. At first Mockerman tried to get the machine out of his shop, which held close to a million dollars worth of tools and equipment.
When it became clear that wouldn’t work, Mockerman tried to put the fire out as best as he could. Finally, he decided to make a run for his fire extinguisher.
“I got half way across the shop when the skidoo blew up,” says Mockerman.
From that point on, Mockerman’s memory of the incident is limited. He says he remembers looking for a way out, and that he could only see a tiny little spot.
Trish says she saw the smoke through the bedroom window and told Aden that she had to go see what his dad was doing.
“Once it came across the floor and up the door frame it was too much for me,” says Trish.
“I made sure she dialed 911,” says Aden.
Once Mockerman made it outside, Trish tackled him to the ground, hoping the snow would help put out the flames. He got up again at that point and ran past the deck, where Aden was watching the commotion, before falling into the snow again.
Trish made all the necessary phone calls and soon the ambulance arrived. She’d also reached out to Mockerman’s parents, asking to speak to Ernie so she didn’t have to upset Alice, as well as his estranged brother Randy. Once the paramedics arrived, it became clear that STARS was needed.
Both Ernie and Alice had arrived at Mockerman’s place before he was airlifted to the hospital.
“I don’t remember much, but I just remember that as STARS was flying away, I was blowing kisses at the helicopter and praying with tears just running down my cheeks,” says Alice.
Ernie says the person that he saw lying on the gurney did not in any way resemble his son. Mockerman asked the paramedics to keep his mom away because he didn’t want her to see him like that.
“It was a nightmare,” says Alice. “It was the worst nightmare that I’ve ever had.”
Eleven minutes after the helicopter arrived, Mockerman was in Edmonton at the burn unit in the University of Alberta hospital.
Upon arrival in Edmonton, Mockerman flatlined for the first time. Before he was stable, Mockerman died two more times in the hospital. For three months, he was in a coma.
He says he has little recollection of the time when he was in the coma other than he had vivid night terrors for the duration of it. A recent trip through Breton gave him an anxiety attack when he recognized a building that had been in one of those nightmares.
Meanwhile, doctors and nurses went to work debriding the dead tissue on his body.
“I remember waking up once in the middle of it,” he says. “That’s not a fun experience. I realized at that point in time that I was in trouble.”
During his time in the hospital, Mockerman’s family came to see him every weekend without fail. Even Aden made the trip with them, though he didn’t always go inside to see his dad after his first experience seeing Mockerman didn’t go well.
“It was hot in there. I was cooking,” says Aden. Trish recognized that he was about to faint and quickly brought him out to the waiting room.
“That was the hardest part for me,” says Mockerman. “The first time I was seeing my son and he was so scared he couldn’t even come up to me.”
“How do you prepare him for that?” says Alice. “That was his dad, his best friend there. How do I tell him what he’ll see?”
Part of the issue was that Mockerman didn’t look like himself. His body had swollen to nearly four times its natural size. To help prevent his limbs from bursting, doctors made incisions along both arms and legs to help relieve the swelling. Because of the swelling, he also couldn’t breathe so the doctors performed a tracheotomy.
Mockerman says the only areas of his body that they didn’t remove skin grafts from were the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. Everything else was fair game.
On Monday they would take a skin graft from his stomach. Then on Thursday, they would take one from his back. Monday would come around again, and they would remove what skin they could from his stomach.
After 48 surgeries, months of rehabilitation that involved learning how to speak, write, and walk again, Mockerman remembers the staff at the hospital fondly.
“Dr. Sean Dodd is like my best friend now,” says Mockerman of the head surgeon. “Dr. Alexis Amour, one of my plastic surgeons, she’s… I couldn’t say enough words about her. She’s phenomenal.”
He says all of the staff on the burn ward were “utterly amazing people.” One of his favourite memories was being woken up at 12:01 a.m. on his birthday as the entire staff on the floor came in to sing him Happy Birthday.
Though Mockerman tried to remain as positive as possible, there were days when his mood turned down. When that happened, he said the staff were always there for him emotionally and truly helped him to get through the experience.
“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t see for a while,” he says. “I had to learn all of my life skills all over again.”
When it became apparent that the flesh on his left calf wasn’t going to heal, doctors began to discuss amputating his left leg.
He kept getting infections and they weren’t going away. The doctor told him they had tried every single medication and trial drug available in Canada, but nothing seemed to be working. Mockerman was told he likely only had a few days left to live.
However, a doctor in the United States happened to read about Mockerman and contacted his doctor. They had a new drug that hadn’t even started being tested on animals. The American doctor told Mockerman’s doctor that if he could get Canadian approval, he would ship him the drug. That drug saved his life.
“To this day, they tell me a bee sting could take me out,” says Mockerman. “I don’t have an immune system.”
Dodd fought to have Mockerman keep his leg and was successful. Rather than remove the leg, they removed all of the flesh from his calf, leaving only the bone covered by a couple layers of skin.
“They say it’s amazing that I can even walk,” he says.
Once Mockerman got it into his mind that he was going to walk he said he didn’t let anything deter him from his goal. He didn’t say anything to his family about his efforts. Instead, he surprised them by walking out to see them when they came to visit for his birthday on June 17.
Only a month ago Mockerman had to go to the U of A to have his pinkie fingers removed on both hands. He says he learned that when a body is burned, one of the first things that happens is the fingers curl up. Once that happens, it can be difficult to get them to straighten out to a point that they can be useful.
The remainder of his fingers had to be worked on. Skin grafts were needed and hardware had to be put in place. All three fingers and his thumb work on his left hand, but on his right hand, his pointer finger and middle finger are still in casts.
While Mockerman may have suffered the injuries, his close call affected everyone in his family. Ernie and Alice normally head to Arizona for the winter months, but for the winter of 2023/24, they stayed in Drayton. Ernie has been driving Mockerman in for his weekly appointments.
“There’s no words to express how much it affected all of us,” says Alice. “We just praise the Lord every day.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Mom and Dad and Trish,” Mockerman says.
But one of the best things to come out of the experience was Mockerman’s relationship with his brother. He said for the majority of his life, he and his brother didn’t get along. They would only tolerate each other at family events when they didn’t have a choice. Now they are closer than they ever were before.
“Randy and I are best friends now. It really brought us together,” he says. “It brought all of us together.”
Prior to the accident, Mockerman was looking forward to retiring in 2025 with plans to work out of his shop doing custom Harley paint jobs. Unfortunately, Mockerman had taken the insurance off of his vehicles for the winter as he wouldn’t be driving them. A misunderstanding of what exactly was covered by insurance left him with nothing but ash after his shop burned down.
“I’ve never been able to slow down,” he says. “I’ve always been the type of guy to grab an extra gear and keep on going. Slowing down has been one of the hardest things.”
He says one of the hardest things when he returned home was that he couldn’t return to work. Mockerman says he absolutely loved his job, but after his accident, the company had to sell his truck and eliminate his position.
Mockerman says he was shocked to see how many neighbours came out to support his family after his accident. He says he couldn’t express enough gratitude to cover how he felt about their help.
One family, the Hayduks, were at his house shortly after the accident and took Aden to their house while the paramedics were there to distract him from the experience.
“You tend to forget how many friends you actually have until something like this unfortunately comes along,” says Mockerman.
He says though he works to stay positive, there are times when he finds his mind drifting to what is missing.
“I just look out the window sometimes and look around to see what I lost,” he says. “But then I look around to see what I have. I feel pretty damn blessed.”
Now that he’s at home, there are still a lot of adjustments that he has to get used to. He says he will never ride a Harley again, and will have to resort to using trikes instead. He’s also lost a lot of his drive for his retirement dream and isn’t sure if it will ever come back.
To help pass the time and as part of his therapeutic process, Mockerman has been writing a book about his experience. He says the nurses on the ward were always encouraging him to write. Now, he has the rough draft of a novel written out, and is always thinking of just one more thing to add to it.
One habit Mockerman has been working on now that he’s home is gratitude. He says he and Aden do their best to start their day finding five things to be grateful for in the upcoming day.
Prior to his accident, Mockerman says he wasn’t a religious person. But a couple of experiences that he had when he had flatlined has changed his views.
“I saw the light that everyone talks about. I’m guessing it was God standing at the end of it,” he says.
While he can’t be certain, Mockerman says it felt like God was speaking to him. He was told that he had a choice: he could either go to sleep and escape the pain, or if Mockerman could give a good reason, he could live. Mockerman says he chose to live, that he wanted to be there for his son, and then he woke up.
The next time he flatlined all he saw at the end of his tunnel was a picture of Aden. Mockerman says he’d never seen the picture before. But when he came too the next day, his mother had brought that exact same picture, frame and all, to put in his room.
Even though the weather left a lot to be desired, the Mockermans still went out camping on May Long weekend with several friends. Mockerman says he’s hoping to keep as many of his regular activities in his life as he can.
Currently, Mockerman is not able to work. While Trish does still have her job, and is able to work from home sometimes, the couple has had to go through a large chunk of their savings to get by.
Friends and family hosted a fundraiser for them in Breton last summer, and Ernie says he was pleased with the turnout. “There were about 200 people there,” he says.
For now, Mockerman says they are taking it one day at a time.
“They call me miracle man in there,” he says. “I’m not bragging, that’s just what they said. They said they’ve never seen anyone so positive going through what I did.”
Next Week’s News – Drayton Valley Events
Are you a local looking for things to do in and around Drayton Valley, or Brazeau County. Our award winning editor Graham Long, has got your covered in his weekly summary of things happening in Drayton Valley. Have a read of Next Week’s News each week to get an idea on how to plan your, week.
Next Week's News: May 16, 2024 Column
Attention motorists, cyclists, pedestrians etc! Construction work on the eastern portion of Drayton Valley’s 50 Avenue is about to get underway. Expect some detours and traffic disruption in the area over the next several weeks.
Shale Medical is currently trialing a Saturday same day clinic. Depending on feedback and demand they may extend this further. The following dates are slated for the trial: June 15, 9 am – 4 pm, June 22 9 am -4 pm and June 29: 9 am – 4 pm.
The booking procedure is listed on their website and walk-ins will be accepted as well.
Drayton Valley’s Small Town Big Party is tomorrow, (that’s Friday June 14) in Omni 3. That means live music from a couple of bands, plus beer gardens and games and all sorts of fun. This is an adult only event and admission is $7.
Father’s Day is Sunday June 16. For the love of God, no more socks, please!
And after that, it’s time for summer! The most wonderful time of the year officially begins at 8:50 pm, Thursday June 20.
National Indigenous Peoples Day is a day recognizing and celebrating the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Indigenous peoples of Canada. This year it’s Friday June 21.
The Lions Club are bringing the fair to Drayton Valley again this month. It’ll be in town June 21, 22, and 23.
The Frank Maddock High School graduation is June 22. Congratulations to everyone who’s graduating from all of our local schools this year. And if you’re heading off to college or university please call or text your parents regularly. You know how they worry.
June 26 is the last day of school for students in Drayton Valley and Breton, so watch out for bands of feral youth roaming the streets over the next couple of months.
Don’t forget that your property taxes are due to be paid by the end of this month. Since June 30 is a Sunday, you probably want to be a few days early, just in case. If you live in Brazeau County you’ll get a 30 percent rebate if you pay on time, so it’s worth the effort.
And Canada Day is fast approaching. In Drayton Valley there’s a pancake breakfast starting at 7 am at the legion. The parade begins at 10 am and follows the usual route up 50 Avenue and then north on 50 Street. The rest of the activities will be at the Omniplex from 11 am to 3 pm with fireworks at dusk, weather permitting.
Cut out the middle man and get your Drayton Valley and District Free Press directly to your email inbox.
Get more activity ideas in for the Drayton Valley and Brazeau County region in our Brazeau and Beyond Travel Guide.
Head over to our travel guide page to download yours today.
Click here: Brazeau and Beyond
School demolition under way
Now that the Eldorado Elementary School has been completely demolished, crews have started work on tearing down the old H.W. Pickup Junior High School.
“You can see that they’re starting to take down the building,” says Brad Volkman, the superintendent for the Wild Rose School Division.
Because H.W. Pickup was built on municipal reserve land Volkman says the land will not be going up for sale once the work crews are done. Once the demolition is completed, the property will automatically go back to the Town.
Vandalism reported an Issue
“We don’t take any money for that,” says Volkman. “They just get it back.”
There have been a few instances of vandalism at the old schools, and Volkman says it’s always a safety concern if there is an abandoned building. The division also had to spend money doing what they could to repair damages, such as boarding up windows that had been broken.
“We’re glad to see it coming down,” he says. “We don’t want to see people getting injured or defacing the building.”
Volkman says staff in the division had the opportunity to go through the schools and take any items they wanted out of them. Anything that was left behind became the property of the demolition company.
Playgrounds to be reused
However, Volkman says the playgrounds on both school sites aren’t being completely destroyed. The plan is to have as much of the equipment moved to the new school as they can safely do. He says they will be moved over the summer.
“Most of the one on the Eldorado property will be going to the Powerhouse Campus. One particularly piece will be going to Evergreen,” he says.
In addition to the playgrounds that are being moved over, Volkman says they still have a $250,000 grant from the province to spend on new playground equipment for the campus. He says that the school council also plans to raise funds to help with the new playground.
The school division owned the land where Eldorado was located. Now that the school is down, WRSD has received permission from the Minister of Education to sell that land, with the right of first refusal going to the Town.
Fire training proposal for Lodgepole
A new proposal could see the creation of a fire rescue college in Lodgepole.
In a presentation to Brazeau County council last week, Erik Ives spoke regarding the Canadian Fire Rescue College (CFRC) which is exploring Lodgepole as a campus location to train firefighters.
The CFRC is an indigenous owned private corporation, which is certified as an educational institution by the government of Canada,
The college currently operates a facility in Alberta Beach. Core services offered include Firefighter I and II training, HazMat responder training and a wildland firefighter program which is geared toward municipal firefighters.
The proposal would see the organization taking over the provincial boxing facility in Lodgepole, which covers more than 15,000 square feet and includes living quarters, a commercial kitchen and a large gymnasium, and turning it into a campus capable of offering a range of firefighting and rescue training for as many as 100 trainees by 2026.
The CFRC also envisions the creation of a fire station and a live fire building.
The estimated overall price tag for the project is a little over $1 million. CFRC staff are working on acquiring grant funding to help offset those costs.
After last week’s presentation, council agreed to write a letter of support for the idea.
Council going live
Starting May 21, county council meetings will be livestreamed online. The County has set up a YouTube channel to allow the public to watch proceedings without having to visit the county office. The link to each meeting will be posted on the County website. Meeting videos will also be archived to allow for viewing at a later date.
Rec board appointment
Council appointed Rina Saar to serve a two-year term as a member at large on the joint Town of Drayton Valley – Brazeau County Recreation Board. The board is composed of two councillors and one member at large from each municipality. Its mandate is to provide input regarding sport, culture, and recreation programs as designated by town and county councils.
Air cadets mark 60 years
The Drayton Valley Air Cadets Squadron 733 will be celebrating their 60th anniversary this year with a barbecue open to the public.
Lamont Cardinal, the chair of the parent committee for the cadets, says that the cadets are technically turning 63 this year, but the original celebration for their 60th had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
“We’re now essentially celebrating our sixtieth anniversary,” says Cardinal.
Cardinal says the barbecue will be held on Sunday, April 21 at their headquarters at 5524 Industrial Road. Only a month later, the 38 cadets will also be attending their Annual Ceremonial Revue, where they will be inspected by a member of the Canadian Military.
While the history of the Air Cadets goes back to the 1940s when the Canadian military recognized they would need more trained pilots for the war effort, Squadron 733 wasn’t established until April 22, 1961.
Originally, only boys were able to join the Cadets. However, when the Canadian Government amended legislation changing the word boys to persons in 1975, girls were allowed to enroll.
Captain Tanya Hunt says over the years there have been many people involved in the Cadets.
“Since the formation of the squadron there have been many commanding officers that have helped form and mold the 733 Drayton Valley Air Cadet Squadron we have today. Capt Matt McCullach, Capt Pat Turner, Capt Brian Torpy, Capt Lorna Luchyk, Capt Randy Romanchuk, Capt Paul Spurrell , Capt Mitch Krasey, Capt Heather Guard, Capt Kate Simpson, Capt Gerald Landers and the current commander Capt Tanya Hunt,” says Hunt in an emailed statement.
She says the barbecue is also about promoting the cadets in the community.
While the cadets do follow many military style rules, they are a separate program than the Canadian Armed Forces, says Cardinal. Given that they are Air Cadets, the members spend some of their time focused on flying.
Cardinal says throughout the year, the parents and members fundraise to pay for cadets to go gliding at least one time. They also do some flying in small engine planes.
If the cadets stick with the program and complete all of the ground school and complete all of the training, Cardinal says they can get their private flying license once they graduate from the program. There are also some scholarships that are available through the Air Cadet League of Canada.
He says it’s also a great program to teach kids responsibility and discipline. All of the cadets are given their own uniforms and are completely responsible for the maintenance of that uniform. That includes sewing on patches, washing and ironing the uniform, and shining their boots.
“It’s all about the self-motivation and self-reliance, along with working as part of a team,” says Cardinal.
He says the cadets are always accepting donations, and all funds donated will go toward programs for the members.
Decisions made in the interim budget set the tone for the coming year but may be subject to change before the final budget is approved. The final budget is expected to come to council in April, once the County has received up to date assessment information for 2022.
On Tuesday council approved a schedule of fees for the coming year, with no changes from the previous year. A suggestion by Guyon to remove the $1,000 fee for an area structure plan application was not supported by the majority of council.
The Town of Drayton Valley is expected to pass its interim budget later this month.
The new training officer for the Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services comes to the position with a background in the military.
Matthew Noad started with the department at the beginning of June after relocating from Cold Lake’s military base.
Noad says he started working in fire services when he was 18 in Magrath, south of Lethbridge.
“I started fire fighting about as soon as I could,” says Noad.
He says during his time in Magrath, he worked with another man who had worked as a firefighter for the Canadian Military.
“I didn’t even know that there was firefighters in the military,” says Noad.
Noad started with the military in 2018 and completed basic training as well as some firefighter training in Borden, Ontario. Once that was done, he was stationed in Cold Lake.
Military firefighters are mostly stationed at the air force bases in Canada, says Noad, although the Edmonton Army Base also has military firefighters. The rest of the bases have firefighters under National Defence rather than the military.
The firefighters are responsible for the structures and personnel on the base, as well as the aircrafts. He says other than dealing with aircraft, most of the training that they receive is the same that an on-call volunteer would receive at a municipal fire department.
“We kind of become their insurance policy in a sense,” says Noad. “We’re the ones protecting it from fire and damage.”
He says they were basically trained in airport firefighting, which isn’t as much of an issue in Drayton. However, Noad didn’t spend a lot of time dealing with wildfires at the base, so he will also be learning some things during his time here.
After six years working mostly in Cold Lake as a training officer, Noad says he decided to go with a change of direction in his firefighting career. He says he saw the opportunity in Drayton Valley and was excited by the prospects.
Noad says working in Alberta was what he had preferred, having spent most of his life in the province. However, one of the perks of the community was that it was closer to the mountains than Cold Lake was, and his wife has some family in the area.
“I’m actually super excited to be here,” says Noad. “I’m excited to be working with such a committed group of volunteers and full-time staff.”
He says he was impressed watching the dedication the department had to looking out for the County and the Town during the wildfire season in 2023.
“That was one of the driving forces that brought me here,” he says. “There’s such a dedicated group of individuals that sacrificed their own time to be there for people on their worst days. With the extreme conditions that they were in, they did an excellent job with what they had.”
Noad says he highly encourages anyone who is interested in giving back to their community to apply to be a volunteer firefighter. Their next training recruitment is in the fall, but they accept applications throughout.
Anyone who is interested in applying can visit the Town office for an application or call the department at 780-514-2216.
The question of whether a person should celebrate their father all year round or on one particular day has been answered for a local family.
On March 18, 2023, the Mockerman family’s lives took a drastic turn when Rob Mockerman was involved in an accident that left him with second and third degree burns to more than 85 percent of his body.
At 5:30 that evening, while his wife Trish and six-year-old son Aden were inside their house near Buck Creek cooking dinner, Mockerman went to his shop to give a tune up to a recently purchased snowmobile.
“We’d just got a new-to-us skidoo from a guy in Edmonton,” says Mockerman. Both he and Aden were excited to go try it out.
Unbeknownst to Mockerman, there was a fuel leak in the machine. When he first started the engine, it caught on fire. At first Mockerman tried to get the machine out of his shop, which held close to a million dollars worth of tools and equipment.
When it became clear that wouldn’t work, Mockerman tried to put the fire out as best as he could. Finally, he decided to make a run for his fire extinguisher.
“I got half way across the shop when the skidoo blew up,” says Mockerman.
From that point on, Mockerman’s memory of the incident is limited. He says he remembers looking for a way out, and that he could only see a tiny little spot.
Trish says she saw the smoke through the bedroom window and told Aden that she had to go see what his dad was doing.
“Once it came across the floor and up the door frame it was too much for me,” says Trish.
“I made sure she dialed 911,” says Aden.
Once Mockerman made it outside, Trish tackled him to the ground, hoping the snow would help put out the flames. He got up again at that point and ran past the deck, where Aden was watching the commotion, before falling into the snow again.
Trish made all the necessary phone calls and soon the ambulance arrived. She’d also reached out to Mockerman’s parents, asking to speak to Ernie so she didn’t have to upset Alice, as well as his estranged brother Randy. Once the paramedics arrived, it became clear that STARS was needed.
Both Ernie and Alice had arrived at Mockerman’s place before he was airlifted to the hospital.
“I don’t remember much, but I just remember that as STARS was flying away, I was blowing kisses at the helicopter and praying with tears just running down my cheeks,” says Alice.
Ernie says the person that he saw lying on the gurney did not in any way resemble his son. Mockerman asked the paramedics to keep his mom away because he didn’t want her to see him like that.
“It was a nightmare,” says Alice. “It was the worst nightmare that I’ve ever had.”
Eleven minutes after the helicopter arrived, Mockerman was in Edmonton at the burn unit in the University of Alberta hospital.
Upon arrival in Edmonton, Mockerman flatlined for the first time. Before he was stable, Mockerman died two more times in the hospital. For three months, he was in a coma.
He says he has little recollection of the time when he was in the coma other than he had vivid night terrors for the duration of it. A recent trip through Breton gave him an anxiety attack when he recognized a building that had been in one of those nightmares.
Meanwhile, doctors and nurses went to work debriding the dead tissue on his body.
“I remember waking up once in the middle of it,” he says. “That’s not a fun experience. I realized at that point in time that I was in trouble.”
During his time in the hospital, Mockerman’s family came to see him every weekend without fail. Even Aden made the trip with them, though he didn’t always go inside to see his dad after his first experience seeing Mockerman didn’t go well.
“It was hot in there. I was cooking,” says Aden. Trish recognized that he was about to faint and quickly brought him out to the waiting room.
“That was the hardest part for me,” says Mockerman. “The first time I was seeing my son and he was so scared he couldn’t even come up to me.”
“How do you prepare him for that?” says Alice. “That was his dad, his best friend there. How do I tell him what he’ll see?”
Part of the issue was that Mockerman didn’t look like himself. His body had swollen to nearly four times its natural size. To help prevent his limbs from bursting, doctors made incisions along both arms and legs to help relieve the swelling. Because of the swelling, he also couldn’t breathe so the doctors performed a tracheotomy.
Mockerman says the only areas of his body that they didn’t remove skin grafts from were the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. Everything else was fair game.
On Monday they would take a skin graft from his stomach. Then on Thursday, they would take one from his back. Monday would come around again, and they would remove what skin they could from his stomach.
After 48 surgeries, months of rehabilitation that involved learning how to speak, write, and walk again, Mockerman remembers the staff at the hospital fondly.
“Dr. Sean Dodd is like my best friend now,” says Mockerman of the head surgeon. “Dr. Alexis Amour, one of my plastic surgeons, she’s… I couldn’t say enough words about her. She’s phenomenal.”
He says all of the staff on the burn ward were “utterly amazing people.” One of his favourite memories was being woken up at 12:01 a.m. on his birthday as the entire staff on the floor came in to sing him Happy Birthday.
Though Mockerman tried to remain as positive as possible, there were days when his mood turned down. When that happened, he said the staff were always there for him emotionally and truly helped him to get through the experience.
“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t see for a while,” he says. “I had to learn all of my life skills all over again.”
When it became apparent that the flesh on his left calf wasn’t going to heal, doctors began to discuss amputating his left leg.
He kept getting infections and they weren’t going away. The doctor told him they had tried every single medication and trial drug available in Canada, but nothing seemed to be working. Mockerman was told he likely only had a few days left to live.
However, a doctor in the United States happened to read about Mockerman and contacted his doctor. They had a new drug that hadn’t even started being tested on animals. The American doctor told Mockerman’s doctor that if he could get Canadian approval, he would ship him the drug. That drug saved his life.
“To this day, they tell me a bee sting could take me out,” says Mockerman. “I don’t have an immune system.”
Dodd fought to have Mockerman keep his leg and was successful. Rather than remove the leg, they removed all of the flesh from his calf, leaving only the bone covered by a couple layers of skin.
“They say it’s amazing that I can even walk,” he says.
Once Mockerman got it into his mind that he was going to walk he said he didn’t let anything deter him from his goal. He didn’t say anything to his family about his efforts. Instead, he surprised them by walking out to see them when they came to visit for his birthday on June 17.
Only a month ago Mockerman had to go to the U of A to have his pinkie fingers removed on both hands. He says he learned that when a body is burned, one of the first things that happens is the fingers curl up. Once that happens, it can be difficult to get them to straighten out to a point that they can be useful.
The remainder of his fingers had to be worked on. Skin grafts were needed and hardware had to be put in place. All three fingers and his thumb work on his left hand, but on his right hand, his pointer finger and middle finger are still in casts.
While Mockerman may have suffered the injuries, his close call affected everyone in his family. Ernie and Alice normally head to Arizona for the winter months, but for the winter of 2023/24, they stayed in Drayton. Ernie has been driving Mockerman in for his weekly appointments.
“There’s no words to express how much it affected all of us,” says Alice. “We just praise the Lord every day.”
“I couldn’t have done it without Mom and Dad and Trish,” Mockerman says.
But one of the best things to come out of the experience was Mockerman’s relationship with his brother. He said for the majority of his life, he and his brother didn’t get along. They would only tolerate each other at family events when they didn’t have a choice. Now they are closer than they ever were before.
“Randy and I are best friends now. It really brought us together,” he says. “It brought all of us together.”
Prior to the accident, Mockerman was looking forward to retiring in 2025 with plans to work out of his shop doing custom Harley paint jobs. Unfortunately, Mockerman had taken the insurance off of his vehicles for the winter as he wouldn’t be driving them. A misunderstanding of what exactly was covered by insurance left him with nothing but ash after his shop burned down.
“I’ve never been able to slow down,” he says. “I’ve always been the type of guy to grab an extra gear and keep on going. Slowing down has been one of the hardest things.”
He says one of the hardest things when he returned home was that he couldn’t return to work. Mockerman says he absolutely loved his job, but after his accident, the company had to sell his truck and eliminate his position.
Mockerman says he was shocked to see how many neighbours came out to support his family after his accident. He says he couldn’t express enough gratitude to cover how he felt about their help.
One family, the Hayduks, were at his house shortly after the accident and took Aden to their house while the paramedics were there to distract him from the experience.
“You tend to forget how many friends you actually have until something like this unfortunately comes along,” says Mockerman.
He says though he works to stay positive, there are times when he finds his mind drifting to what is missing.
“I just look out the window sometimes and look around to see what I lost,” he says. “But then I look around to see what I have. I feel pretty damn blessed.”
Now that he’s at home, there are still a lot of adjustments that he has to get used to. He says he will never ride a Harley again, and will have to resort to using trikes instead. He’s also lost a lot of his drive for his retirement dream and isn’t sure if it will ever come back.
To help pass the time and as part of his therapeutic process, Mockerman has been writing a book about his experience. He says the nurses on the ward were always encouraging him to write. Now, he has the rough draft of a novel written out, and is always thinking of just one more thing to add to it.
One habit Mockerman has been working on now that he’s home is gratitude. He says he and Aden do their best to start their day finding five things to be grateful for in the upcoming day.
Prior to his accident, Mockerman says he wasn’t a religious person. But a couple of experiences that he had when he had flatlined has changed his views.
“I saw the light that everyone talks about. I’m guessing it was God standing at the end of it,” he says.
While he can’t be certain, Mockerman says it felt like God was speaking to him. He was told that he had a choice: he could either go to sleep and escape the pain, or if Mockerman could give a good reason, he could live. Mockerman says he chose to live, that he wanted to be there for his son, and then he woke up.
The next time he flatlined all he saw at the end of his tunnel was a picture of Aden. Mockerman says he’d never seen the picture before. But when he came too the next day, his mother had brought that exact same picture, frame and all, to put in his room.
Even though the weather left a lot to be desired, the Mockermans still went out camping on May Long weekend with several friends. Mockerman says he’s hoping to keep as many of his regular activities in his life as he can.
Currently, Mockerman is not able to work. While Trish does still have her job, and is able to work from home sometimes, the couple has had to go through a large chunk of their savings to get by.
Friends and family hosted a fundraiser for them in Breton last summer, and Ernie says he was pleased with the turnout. “There were about 200 people there,” he says.
For now, Mockerman says they are taking it one day at a time.
“They call me miracle man in there,” he says. “I’m not bragging, that’s just what they said. They said they’ve never seen anyone so positive going through what I did.”
Are you a local looking for things to do in and around Drayton Valley, or Brazeau County. Our award winning editor Graham Long, has got your covered in his weekly summary of things happening in Drayton Valley. Have a read of Next Week’s News each week to get an idea on how to plan your, week.
Next Week's News: May 16, 2024 Column
Attention motorists, cyclists, pedestrians etc! Construction work on the eastern portion of Drayton Valley’s 50 Avenue is about to get underway. Expect some detours and traffic disruption in the area over the next several weeks.
Shale Medical is currently trialing a Saturday same day clinic. Depending on feedback and demand they may extend this further. The following dates are slated for the trial: June 15, 9 am – 4 pm, June 22 9 am -4 pm and June 29: 9 am – 4 pm.
The booking procedure is listed on their website and walk-ins will be accepted as well.
Drayton Valley’s Small Town Big Party is tomorrow, (that’s Friday June 14) in Omni 3. That means live music from a couple of bands, plus beer gardens and games and all sorts of fun. This is an adult only event and admission is $7.
Father’s Day is Sunday June 16. For the love of God, no more socks, please!
And after that, it’s time for summer! The most wonderful time of the year officially begins at 8:50 pm, Thursday June 20.
National Indigenous Peoples Day is a day recognizing and celebrating the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Indigenous peoples of Canada. This year it’s Friday June 21.
The Lions Club are bringing the fair to Drayton Valley again this month. It’ll be in town June 21, 22, and 23.
The Frank Maddock High School graduation is June 22. Congratulations to everyone who’s graduating from all of our local schools this year. And if you’re heading off to college or university please call or text your parents regularly. You know how they worry.
June 26 is the last day of school for students in Drayton Valley and Breton, so watch out for bands of feral youth roaming the streets over the next couple of months.
Don’t forget that your property taxes are due to be paid by the end of this month. Since June 30 is a Sunday, you probably want to be a few days early, just in case. If you live in Brazeau County you’ll get a 30 percent rebate if you pay on time, so it’s worth the effort.
And Canada Day is fast approaching. In Drayton Valley there’s a pancake breakfast starting at 7 am at the legion. The parade begins at 10 am and follows the usual route up 50 Avenue and then north on 50 Street. The rest of the activities will be at the Omniplex from 11 am to 3 pm with fireworks at dusk, weather permitting.
Cut out the middle man and get your Drayton Valley and District Free Press directly to your email inbox.
Get more activity ideas in for the Drayton Valley and Brazeau County region in our Brazeau and Beyond Travel Guide.
Head over to our travel guide page to download yours today.
Click here: Brazeau and Beyond
Now that the Eldorado Elementary School has been completely demolished, crews have started work on tearing down the old H.W. Pickup Junior High School.
“You can see that they’re starting to take down the building,” says Brad Volkman, the superintendent for the Wild Rose School Division.
Because H.W. Pickup was built on municipal reserve land Volkman says the land will not be going up for sale once the work crews are done. Once the demolition is completed, the property will automatically go back to the Town.
Vandalism reported an Issue
“We don’t take any money for that,” says Volkman. “They just get it back.”
There have been a few instances of vandalism at the old schools, and Volkman says it’s always a safety concern if there is an abandoned building. The division also had to spend money doing what they could to repair damages, such as boarding up windows that had been broken.
“We’re glad to see it coming down,” he says. “We don’t want to see people getting injured or defacing the building.”
Volkman says staff in the division had the opportunity to go through the schools and take any items they wanted out of them. Anything that was left behind became the property of the demolition company.
Playgrounds to be reused
However, Volkman says the playgrounds on both school sites aren’t being completely destroyed. The plan is to have as much of the equipment moved to the new school as they can safely do. He says they will be moved over the summer.
“Most of the one on the Eldorado property will be going to the Powerhouse Campus. One particularly piece will be going to Evergreen,” he says.
In addition to the playgrounds that are being moved over, Volkman says they still have a $250,000 grant from the province to spend on new playground equipment for the campus. He says that the school council also plans to raise funds to help with the new playground.
The school division owned the land where Eldorado was located. Now that the school is down, WRSD has received permission from the Minister of Education to sell that land, with the right of first refusal going to the Town.
A new proposal could see the creation of a fire rescue college in Lodgepole.
In a presentation to Brazeau County council last week, Erik Ives spoke regarding the Canadian Fire Rescue College (CFRC) which is exploring Lodgepole as a campus location to train firefighters.
The CFRC is an indigenous owned private corporation, which is certified as an educational institution by the government of Canada,
The college currently operates a facility in Alberta Beach. Core services offered include Firefighter I and II training, HazMat responder training and a wildland firefighter program which is geared toward municipal firefighters.
The proposal would see the organization taking over the provincial boxing facility in Lodgepole, which covers more than 15,000 square feet and includes living quarters, a commercial kitchen and a large gymnasium, and turning it into a campus capable of offering a range of firefighting and rescue training for as many as 100 trainees by 2026.
The CFRC also envisions the creation of a fire station and a live fire building.
The estimated overall price tag for the project is a little over $1 million. CFRC staff are working on acquiring grant funding to help offset those costs.
After last week’s presentation, council agreed to write a letter of support for the idea.
Council going live
Starting May 21, county council meetings will be livestreamed online. The County has set up a YouTube channel to allow the public to watch proceedings without having to visit the county office. The link to each meeting will be posted on the County website. Meeting videos will also be archived to allow for viewing at a later date.
Rec board appointment
Council appointed Rina Saar to serve a two-year term as a member at large on the joint Town of Drayton Valley – Brazeau County Recreation Board. The board is composed of two councillors and one member at large from each municipality. Its mandate is to provide input regarding sport, culture, and recreation programs as designated by town and county councils.
The Drayton Valley Air Cadets Squadron 733 will be celebrating their 60th anniversary this year with a barbecue open to the public.
Lamont Cardinal, the chair of the parent committee for the cadets, says that the cadets are technically turning 63 this year, but the original celebration for their 60th had to be cancelled due to the pandemic.
“We’re now essentially celebrating our sixtieth anniversary,” says Cardinal.
Cardinal says the barbecue will be held on Sunday, April 21 at their headquarters at 5524 Industrial Road. Only a month later, the 38 cadets will also be attending their Annual Ceremonial Revue, where they will be inspected by a member of the Canadian Military.
While the history of the Air Cadets goes back to the 1940s when the Canadian military recognized they would need more trained pilots for the war effort, Squadron 733 wasn’t established until April 22, 1961.
Originally, only boys were able to join the Cadets. However, when the Canadian Government amended legislation changing the word boys to persons in 1975, girls were allowed to enroll.
Captain Tanya Hunt says over the years there have been many people involved in the Cadets.
“Since the formation of the squadron there have been many commanding officers that have helped form and mold the 733 Drayton Valley Air Cadet Squadron we have today. Capt Matt McCullach, Capt Pat Turner, Capt Brian Torpy, Capt Lorna Luchyk, Capt Randy Romanchuk, Capt Paul Spurrell , Capt Mitch Krasey, Capt Heather Guard, Capt Kate Simpson, Capt Gerald Landers and the current commander Capt Tanya Hunt,” says Hunt in an emailed statement.
She says the barbecue is also about promoting the cadets in the community.
While the cadets do follow many military style rules, they are a separate program than the Canadian Armed Forces, says Cardinal. Given that they are Air Cadets, the members spend some of their time focused on flying.
Cardinal says throughout the year, the parents and members fundraise to pay for cadets to go gliding at least one time. They also do some flying in small engine planes.
If the cadets stick with the program and complete all of the ground school and complete all of the training, Cardinal says they can get their private flying license once they graduate from the program. There are also some scholarships that are available through the Air Cadet League of Canada.
He says it’s also a great program to teach kids responsibility and discipline. All of the cadets are given their own uniforms and are completely responsible for the maintenance of that uniform. That includes sewing on patches, washing and ironing the uniform, and shining their boots.
“It’s all about the self-motivation and self-reliance, along with working as part of a team,” says Cardinal.
He says the cadets are always accepting donations, and all funds donated will go toward programs for the members.
Judge explains Breton area manslaughter ruling
A Court of King’s Bench Justice has outlined her reasons for convicting a woman of manslaughter in an incident that happened in the Breton area.
New Staff Sergeant is a familiar face
Ryan Hoetmer was first stationed in Drayton Valley in 2017 as a corporal overseeing the three man general investigation section (GIS) for the detachment. Prior to his transfer to Drayton Valley, Hoetmer was working in Grande Prairie as part of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) task force, dealing with organized crime and drug trafficking.
Training officer arrives
The new training officer for the Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services comes to the position with a background in the military.
Matthew Noad started with the department at the beginning of June after relocating from Cold Lake’s military base.
Near tragedy draws family together
On March 18, 2023, the Mockerman family’s lives took a drastic turn when Rob Mockerman was involved in an accident that left him with second and third degree burns to more than 85 percent of his body.
