Two of the leading paddle sports magazines have been telling the story of Global Rescue’s medical evacuation of Jon Turk from the Canadian Arctic.

In an interview with Canoe & Kayak magazine, Turk’s traveling companion Erik Boomer had this to say:

 “It was about 36 hours after we completed the expedition. We stayed a night in a house where we began the trip. And he woke up in a lot of pain, without being able to pee. We zipped him over to a health office—they have one nurse for the entire community—and they ran a bunch of tests, and they found out his kidneys weren’t working.”

“So we called in Global Rescue, which is an awesome, awesome rescue company by the way. We had to wait three days before a jet was able to get in there, because of the fog, and once he got further south they ran all the blood work. And they were all pretty appalled at how bad his blood was, and really glad they got him down there when they did. Right when they went to hook him up to the dialysis machine, his kidneys kicked back on and started working. So he was in the hospital for six days, but he’s home now in the forest of Montana.”

Turk also recounted their adventure to Paddling Life:

“As for harrowing moments, most of the time the journey was difficult and the future uncertain, but at least you could look forward and say, well, nothing bad will happen in the next 30 seconds, so short term, at least, we’re fine,” says Turk. “But when a walrus attacked Erik in open water, things looked pretty grim for a few moments.”

They got grimmer at trip’s end. Fifteen hours after arriving in Grise Fiord, Turk awoke in the middle of the night with the fearful sensation that his metabolic system had broken down.

 “Friends drove me to the local medical clinic, where my condition was considered ‘life threatening,’” says Turk, currently recuperating at his home in Montana. “I was medi-vac’ed to Ottawa by Global Rescue, which stepped up to the plate when my life was on the line. After six days in hospitals and medical clinics, I returned home.”