As I mentioned the other day we just got back from Skiing Okemo in Vermont. While there my son was injured. Here are the details.

In short, Kevin F is an outstanding ski instructor. More important, he is a gracious, kind and compassionate man. He is a credit to their organization. My daughter and son had group lessons with him all day on Monday, and on Tuesday morning. That afternoon, the kids skied with my brother and I. On Wednesday, they were scheduled for group lessons again.

Wednesday morning, the kids and I hit the slopes at 9AM to get in some runs before their lesson began. We worked our way over to the super half-pipe, which the kids had skied with Kevin on Tuesday morning, and with me on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, my son got a bit eager and failed to complete the right turn at the bottom of the pipe to get over to the lift to get back to the top of the half pipe. He went over the edge with some speed and impacted the side of a barn. I did not witness the impact as my back was turned at that moment, but it must have been like Wile E. Coyote impacting a canyon wall. He was clearly hurt bad.

I called for help and the lift operator called Ski Patrol. I comforted my son and Patrol was on scene within minutes. I had already directed my daughter to go back the other side of the mountain to get her lesson with Kevin, and to find my wife who I was going to meet up with at 10AM.

The Ski Patrol worked diligently, and we were on our way down the hill with left arm and leg in box splints. By the time we arrived at the Okemo base First Aid station, Kevin had already connected my wife to them by phone. While we waited for her to get there, Kevin and my daughter arrived. They had skied over to check on my son. Kevin and my daughter then spent the rest of the day skiing together in a lesson that took her from a tentative intermediate skier to a confident black diamond skier.

My wife and I went to Springfield Hospital and Kevin sent me an email telling me that my daughter would be fine; he would continue her lesson as scheduled. Later that day, he suggested options for her care in case I did not make it back from the hospital until late.

That night, Kevin sent another email, telling me he had informed Resort Services about the event. He told me who to see, and how to work with her to get any credits we might be eligible for. This was simply above and beyond the call of duty.

But he wasn’t done. Later that night he sent me his schedule for Thursday, offering to ski with my daughter while my wife and I were at the hospital as my son was discharged. This enabled me to create a plan for Thursday that allowed my daughter to continue her learning while we took care of her brother. We returned to the mountain at 12:30, just as her lesson with Kevin was ending. He went on to another lesson.

This all sounds so routine but I can assure you his care and diligence were anything but routine.

If Okemo has an award for superior service, he should be first in line for it. If it does not, they could create one and name it after him.

The bigger question for you is does your organization have a Kevin? How about more than one? If not, you have some leading to do.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2011 at 2:25 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.