Help Jason Get Home

Hi, my name is Lori Natuik and I've started this GoFundMe Page to help my good friend Jason Devloo recover from a major stroke. Jason's a quiet guy with a heart of gold, a deep love for his wife Tanya, friends and family, skiing and loves to help others.

Now he needs our help. Who are we? We’re his Ski Patrol family - we look out for and help each other whenever the need arises...and right now we need to help Jason.

So what happened? On March 24th, 2021 Jason suffered a major bi-lateral stroke. Jason is 44 years old.

A bi-lateral stroke affects both sides of the brain causing severe damage to both sides of the body. He has been in hospital since March 24, 2021. The damage caused means a long road to recovery. Jason spent months fully paralyzed in intensive care where he could only communicate by blinking his eyes, was on a ventilator, and had to be tube-fed. It was touch and go for a while, and the doctors didn’t know at first if he would make it. But he stabilized. And with constant love and encouragement from Tanya and an incredible will to live and get better, Jason is improving slowly.

A short five months later, Jason was starting to be able to speak, although not clearly. His speech is still improving. His sense of humour is intact-he’s a very funny guy! He knows he’s not alone in his fight. He’s proven the doctors wrong every step of the way on this journey.

When I first started writing this a few weeks ago Jason was able to move a couple of fingers and a hand-ever so slightly-but he could move them. Now, he can move his arms a few inches up his body. And he recently began starting to be able to move his legs slightly.

This progress is super exciting and very hopeful!

Jason’s in extended care in Winnipeg where he receives physiotherapy, and continues his fight to regain his life. Jason is determined. His mind is completely there-so much so that he completed his annual first aid course and exam, with Tanya holding his phone so he could read the material. His personal goal is to get back on his feet next year and back on his skis patrolling. Jason needs our help.

Provincial health care does not cover most of the costs of his care. The minimum care provided is physiotherapy two times a week. It's not enough. With additional therapy, we can help Jason get the help he needs to keep improving. Here’s what some things cost:

Daily long term care fee: $40 per day

Additional physiotherapy: $110 per session

Massage therapy-$85 for one-hour sessions.

We ask you to help fund additional sessions for Jason to keep working at getting back to normal.

Our initial goal is $10,000, which covers 5 months of expenses: the daily fee, plus one session each of physio and massage.

Jason's road to recovery is slow and incredibly hard. It will be a long time before he's able to go home and I believe he will get there.

What did he do before his stroke-who is Jason? Jason grew up in La Riviere, a rural area of southwestern Manitoba. He discovered a love of skiing as a young man, spending many hours on the runs at Holiday Mountain(formerly La Riviere). He trained as a paramedic before moving to Winnipeg and signing on with Winnipeg Transit. He’s been a driver for 19 years. During his time at Transit he has taken on additional roles as a mentor and role trainer for new operators.

And then he discovered his passion-helping others while doing the sport he loves best. After seeing one of his brothers break a leg while skiing, he joined the Canadian Ski Patrol and became a volunteer patroller. Not one to do just the minimum, Jason became an instructor and has taught countless candidates how to be a good Ski Patroller. His involvement grew over the years to encompass on-snow teaching, competing and winning Silver at the National First Aid Competition, and roles on the executive team. Jason has received many awards over the years including several Appreciation Awards, Instructor of the year, Patroller of the Year, a Zone Life Member Award, and the Ski Patrol’s highest operating award-the Canadian Ski Patroller Award.

In 1997 Jason met someone who changed his life - his wife Tanya. They’ve been married for 19 years and are each others’ rock. They love to hang out and love going to Escape Rooms with their friends.

The goal? To get funds to give Jason the resources to help get him more physio, massage therapy, special equipment to help in his therapies. We don’t want Jason to stress about where the money will come from to help him with more recovery. But we all want to see Jason get his independence back and possibly return to his 'normal' life as much as possible and more than anything - for Jason to go home.

Tanya will do everything in her power to help him get more recovery and eventually come home. Her words? “I want to see him recover more. I never used to be a person, who believed in prayer, but believe me I pray all the time for him and for us to be together. His mind is fully there, he's trapped in his body and needs to get out. Jason knows the days of the week and pretty much tells you anything you want to know. He challenges me daily with facts and sees if I know the answer.”

Jason needs our help now in his fight to get out of this particular Escape Room. He needs to concentrate on fighting to get better and not worry about bills piling up. Jason isn't giving up-he doesn’t believe in giving up. He wants to ski again.

Let’s get him back home-miracles do happen, and we can make Jason’s miracle a reality.

Thanks for your help. I know that together we can do this for Jason.