Keith Aulie a Hero
Rob Vanstone, Regina Leader-Post
Published: Saturday, December 31, 2005
UNDER-17 I REGINA -- Defenceman Keith Aulie is still savouring the biggest assist of his life.
Aulie rescued his father, Bill, from a potentially tragic situation Dec. 22 on the family farm near Rouleau, Sask. Bill Aulie initially feared he would drown after a tractor he was driving fell through the ice on a dugout on the farm.
"In my mind, Keith's a hero,'' Bill said of his 16-year-old son, who is playing for Team West at the Regina-based World Under-17 Hockey Challenge. "I don't say too much about it, but he saved my bacon.''
Bill drove his tractor onto the ice, which covered a dugout, so the family could go skating during the Christmas break. As the tractor cleared off the snow, the ice began to crack.
"It was pretty scary -- the scariest thing I have ever seen,'' said Keith, who had returned home for the holidays after spending the first half of the Western Hockey League season with the Brandon Wheat Kings. "He went down to the north end of the dugout. I was at the south end, looking to see if there were cracks. Then he went right down. He was under water and I saw bubbles coming up. A lot of things ran through my head. I ran over there and saw his head, so I pulled him out.''
That was a feat in itself, considering that Bill is 6-5 and 210 pounds. His son -- the Wheat Kings' strongest player -- weighs the same, but is an inch taller.
"He couldn't stand up because he was shaking and his head was bleeding,'' Keith continued. "I hauled him into the house.''
Before an estimated 10-foot plummet, Bill Aulie had measured the thickness of the ice. The depth ranged from 12 to 14 inches.
"My first thoughts were, 'I didn't expect to die in the back of my tractor and drown in the dugout,''' Bill said. "There was a second where I thought, 'This is it ... This isn't going to take very long.'
"Then you start thinking, 'I can't let it happen this easy.' It was a bit of a shock. It just happened so fast -- in an instant."
Bill estimates he was submerged for 30 seconds, and that there was oxygen in the cab of the tractor for the first 10 seconds.
Bill soon was embraced by his wife, Karen, and 14-year-old daughter, Krystal.
"We had supper that night and we always say a blessing before supper,'' Bill said. "I said, 'This is one of the special ones.' "
After the incident, the Aulie family had an extra reason to celebrate the holiday season.
"Oh, it was very nice,'' Bill concluded. "It was the best Christmas ever.''
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
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