Call him “Never Quit Anderson”
Feature story posted on November 19, 2007
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Robert Anderson with daughter, Danika, and wife Sophie |
Even as he struggled with massive injuries to escape a mangled and smoking helicopter, wildfire ranger Robert Anderson had no intention of quitting.
Toyota Canada recently recognized his persistence and courage by naming him a finalist in the Toyota “Never Quit” Award program, which covers the prairie region.
Anderson, an Alberta Sustainable Resource Development employee with the Forestry Division in Grande Prairie, is one of 20 finalists in the program’s individual category. The award honours people who have relentlessly worked toward personal goals and in doing so represent the “Never Quit attitude” of prairie people.
“It’s kind of overwhelming,” Anderson says of being a finalist. “I’m happy that people think I’m doing a good job at recovering.”
Two winners, one in the individual category and one in the community service category, will each receive $5,000. Toyota will also donate $2,500 in their names to the non-profit organization chosen by each of the winners.
Anderson, 29, lost his left leg just below the knee and his left arm above the elbow due to the helicopter crash on July 3, 2006. A forest firefighter, Darcy Moses, died in the crash, which took place near the Nose Mountain Lookout Tower southwest of Grande Prairie. Both Anderson and Moses were on duty on a helicopter smoke patrol when the accident occurred.
Following the accident, Anderson spent nearly three months in rehabilitation at Edmonton’s Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. Since then, he has continued to work hard to increase his mobility. Anderson is now able to walk on a prosthetic leg, and uses it for up to six hours a day.
He is back on the job and his goal is to eventually return to the field to help fight wildfires.
“I nominated Rob for his perseverance and desire to carry on with his life and career as a wildfire ranger in spite of the severity of the injuries he suffered,” says his supervisor, Don Cousins. “He has been an inspiration to all of us here at work and to all who meet him.”
The Toyota Never Quit Award program, Prairie Zone, is open to residents who have reached the age of majority in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and the trading areas of Kenora, Ont., and Cranbrook and Dawson Creek in British Columbia. It is sponsored by participating dealers within that zone.
For more information on the Toyota Never Quit Awards, go to http://www.toyotaneverquit.com/toyotaneverquit/.
