Draidyn

What should have been a carefree summer for 16-year-old Draidyn of Laird, Saskatchewan, quickly changed to tragedy during his first ever summer job mowing lawns for his hometown.

Draidyn was cutting grass behind the town arena when the mower did a 360-degree turn, flipping the seat up and throwing him off. Unfortunately, the safety switch was disabled on the riding mower. While Draidyn was falling off the mower, he grabbed the leaver and the mower continued backwards, running him over, completely trapping Draidyn underneath with the blades running.

As a first responder, Draidyn’s mom, Christine, was in the neighboring town of Rosthern when she got the call that there was an accident involving a teen boy and a mower in Laird. Christine asked the terrifying question no first responder or mother wants to radio back, “Is it my son?!”

When Christine arrived at the scene of the accident, all she could see was her son’s head sticking out of the mower as the rest of his body had been engulfed by the machine. Draidyn was underneath the mower for over an hour, while still having the awareness to spit on his face in order to stay awake and to stop himself from overheating while he waited for help.

After being airlifted to Saskatchewan’s Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital, Draidyn sustained life-threatening injuries that needed immediate attention, with the main focus being his arm. From the elbow down, Draidyn’s arm had sustained major damage from the accident. “Do whatever you need to do, just save my son’s life,” Christine said to the surgeons after their consultation.

What resulted was a complete amputation of Draidyn’s arm from the elbow down. Along with the injuries to his arm, he lost a significant amount of blood and although no critical damage was done while he was underneath the mower, the blades tore up Draidyn’s midsection which he had to undergo another surgery to repair.

In total, Draidyn spent two months at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital. He’s undergone multiple surgeries, a blood transfusion, and countless hours of therapy. As Draidyn continues to progress he will receive a prosthetic arm and begin the process of learning his new normal again. Draidyn is looking forward to continuing the life he has always wanted to live thanks to the specialized care he has received at JPCH, but now with a prosthetic arm.

Draidyn is regaining the skills he developed throughout his life with one arm, with his favourite being beating his mom, brother, and any challengers in a game of Mario Kart using his one arm and his cheek to control his character.

The road to recovery for Draidyn is long but as he is a lover of cars, specifically old muscle cars, there’s nowhere else he would rather be than behind the wheel and on the open road to recovery. Draidyn is excited to work on his first car, enjoy outdoor activities like fishing with his family, and just being a teen again.

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