James Ketchell

SAR Rescue Greenland Series

YES! FINALLY!

Another life lesson underlined! Never, ever have an opinion until you know all sides of a coin.
Yesterday the very amicable filmmaker Jesper Äro came to film my story of the Greenland rescue. All in all, the experience has felt negative since it happened like a year and a half ago.. until yesterday!
Jesper is doing a series about the SAR rescue teams in Greenland. A tough and very difficult job. As I with emphasis could see when Jesper showed me the Go Pro-filming that my rescuer recorded of the rescue!
It started with the discussion the experienced rescuer Lasse Nymand had with the two pilots. It was pretty much a whiteout as seen from the helicopter and a difficult rescue. They couldn’t land, it was too dangerous. Then we saw Lasse coming down in the strong wind, landed and Peter Wilson came shuffling over and said, you need to bring the sled. Lasse answered, we have to see how the guy is doing. We can see the tent is split in two parts, snowstorm, legs sticking out from the tent. James and Mikael. Lasse sticks his head into the tent, Mikael and James are covered in snow, I look unconscious. I remember Mikael holding me and James filming. Then it is hard to see what happens, but Lasse ties me up, chest against chest after asking me to be on my knees, then the camera runs out of batteries. But obviously I got hauled up and I remember me thinking:
“I am going to die now.”
I was so cold, I felt almost blind, so dizzy and we were swinging around wildly in the rope, but suddenly we were inside. I knew the rescuer from Facebook! Lasse Nymand, former boyfriend of the Greenland film producer Nina. Greenland is such a small world!
In hindsight I know, they did such a great job and I feel such gratitude for this. One of the questions Jesper had was, what was I thinking about in the tent that night after the accident.
I really had to think to recall. It is a lot I don´t remember from the first few days after the accident. But I remember thought about the girls, and hoping I hadn´t ruined it for the team and what would happen with my life now.
But it all turned out good and after seeing that footage I feel way more positive about it all. Thanks Jesper! thanks Lasse and SAR!
The series are due next year.

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