Lifesaving Story part of STARS 2017 Lottery Launch

The 2017 edition of the annual STARS Lottery was launched Thursday. 

There are over 2,000 prizes to be won, including $1.5 million show homes in Saskatoon and Pilot Butte.  Proceeds from the lottery go to STARS bottom line to keep them in the air, flying life-saving missions across Saskatchewan from their two bases (Regina and Saskatoon).

"They'll go right to our operations, from putting fuel into the aircraft and fixing the aircraft," explained Mike Lamacchia the Vice President of Operations for STARS in Saskatchewan and Alberta. "Paying for our medical crew, paying for anything to do with the operations to keep things running, all of our support staff," 

By Thursday morning the lottery was already 43% sold as they creep closer to the early bird deadline on June 28th. Last year the lottery just about sold out with 99.7% of tickets purchased bringing in 2.2 million dollars surpassing their annual goal of 2 million dollars.

At each launch, STARS invites a VIP (Very Important Patient) to join and tell their story of when the emergency service came to their aid. This year Caiden Hendry of Nokomis was the VIP and has also been featured in the STARS calendar. 

Caiden suffered a severe injury while riding his dirt bike with his father and brother.  During the incident, the bike fell on top of his leg. While his dad was able to rush him to the nearest hospital, the building was, unfortunately, undergoing renovations and couldn't treat the youth. STARS was called to pick Caiden up and he was immediately taken to the hospital in Saskatoon and received treatment for his femur piercing through his skin during the accident.

His mother, Kalie, was by his side and spoke of the importance of supporting the lottery because most people don't want a STARS helicopter ride, but some may have to.

"Even though you don't know whether you're going to need it or not, the minute you do, you're going to be thankful that you bought that ticket or that everybody else bought that ticket. We know first hand how important it is to get those tickets sold and get that many because without them I don't even know what would have happened in our situation."

The very pilots who treated and flew with Caiden were also in attendance at the lottery launch, one of them being Kevin Easton who has been a Flight Nurse with STARS since the beginning. 

Though most emergency service personnel are trained to deal with these types of situations Easton noted they do find it difficult when the call is for a child.

"Each situation is so individual and specific and in the back of your mind you're thinking of how to get them back to their families and back to the lives they lived before," said Easton.

During Thursday afternoon's presentation, Caiden addressed the crowd and detailed why he need the air ambulance. 

"The need for STARS is so great, I'm living proof," stated Caiden. "When every second counts, STARS can make the difference."

He also presented last year's grand prize winner, Bernadette Ziegler, with an official ring from STARS symbolizing her support for the air ambulance.

Since inception STARS has flown 4,000 missions to 500 communities across Saskatchewan.