tales-of-Fogo-Island

Recommendations

Info

A Remarkable NurseOne well-known resident of Fogo Island is a lady from the Scottish Highlands.She came to the island after marrying Mr. Gregory Cole during World War II.At the time, he was serving in Scotland as a member of the NewfoundlandForestry Unit. Before coming to Fogo Island as a young war-bride, this younglady completed a four year nursing program.Most people on Fogo Island know this remarkable person as 'Nurse Cole'. Hername is Christina Cole and the following is a brief look at her interesting life asan 'outport nurse'.In July 1946, Mr. and Mrs. Gregory Cole arrived in Newfoundland. Theytraveled home from Lewisporte on a passenger boat owned by Mr. Hyde ofChange Islands. When the boat arrived in Fogo, a crowd was waiting on thewharf to greet them. Mrs. Cole remembers:It was a beautiful sunny day and I stayed on deck for the whole crossing.After a while, I noticed that I had sunburned my face. I was as red as alobster! I must have looked strange to Greg's family, but they gave me areally warm welcome and made me feel very comfortable in my newsurroundings.Soon after her arrival, Mrs. Cole was hired by the Medical Committee in theTown of Fogo. Before long, people from all over the island came to know heras "Nurse Cole." For her first five years as the local nurse, she cared forpatients on her own. The nearest doctors were stationed in Lewisporte andTwillingate. Since there was no pharmacy on the island, she also had to pickup medicine and supplies at these larger centres. On her first trip toTwillingate, Doctor Woods showed her how to pull teeth. Since then, she haspulled hundreds - some of them without anesthetic!During her career, Nurse Cole also helped deliver many babies. Midwivesalso helped and everyone seemed to pull together when there was anemergency. One stormy night, a lady gave birth to a premature baby. It wastoo risky to send the child to Twillingate by boat because of the wind and highseas. At that time, there was no incubator on the island and keeping the babyboy warm was going to be difficult. In those days, there were few electricheaters or oil furnaces. The parents had a range in the kitchen and a fireplacein one of their bedrooms. It may seem hard to believe, but their neighbors kepta fire going in that bedroom for three full months! Nurse Cole recalls:
That fire never went out. They brought wood and kept it going day andnight! One lady even made hooded flannelette jackets for the baby. Thishelped to keep him warm. In those days, everything we had washomemade. Other people helped by staying with the mother and child.The people were so good. They made my job much easier.In the early days, Nurse Cole would travel around the island on foot, by boat,horse, or by dog team. She never had trouble finding someone to take her tosee a patient. The people went out of their way to help. Travel in those dayswas not always easy, but it was usually safe. However, there were a few closecalls.Once, three of us were returning from Deep Bay on the salt water ice. Wewere traveling by dog-team and I was sitting on the sled. One man wasrunning ahead, sort of leading the dogs and another man was runningbehind, holding the sled and pushing it along. We were almost in FogoHarbour when the ice began to break up because there was such a bigsea. The ice ahead of us broke apart just as we came to it. The man infront with the dogs barely made it over the crack before it opened wide.For a moment, it looked like we were going into the water. As ithappened, the runners on the sled bridged the gap between the ice pansand kept us from falling in. That was a really close shave!In later years, a snowmobile was used for transportation during the wintermonths. Sometimes, it would get stuck in deep snow, and the passengers anddriver would have to shovel it out! However, the snowmobile was still a greathelp, especially when clinics were held in other communities on the island. Forexample, there was a clinic in Seldom every Tuesday and one in Joe Batt'sArm every Thursday.
Page 1: Tales ofFogo IslandCompiled and edi
Page 5 and 6: ContributorsThe following people an
Page 8 and 9: A Brush with DeathYears ago, medica
Page 12 and 13: Dealing with emergencies in those d
Page 14 and 15: Looking back on her life, Nurse Col
Page 16 and 17: The Disappearance of Bill HurleyOn
Page 18 and 19: In later years, two youthful boysA
Page 20 and 21: Stories of World War TwoMr. Gregory
Page 22 and 23: the right moment, it would hit the
Page 24 and 25: These are just a few of the many st
Page 26 and 27: After many years, Walter Ludlow's s
Page 28 and 29: The man believed he could make it t
Page 30 and 31: Schooner LifeBefore roads connected
Page 32 and 33: days. Coming back was the same way.
Page 34 and 35: the name of Saunders up in Herring
Page 36 and 37: The McKenna family business has sto
Page 38 and 39: southern end of Change Islands. Dur
Page 40 and 41: The Newfoundland PonyWhen people ta
Page 42 and 43: "Prince" poses for a photo while ta
Page 44 and 45: The original St. Patrick's Church,
Page 46 and 47: group would go over the hills behin
Page 48 and 49: There were also special remedies fo
Page 50 and 51: Green ribbon around neck: Believed
Page 52 and 53: Removing the soundbone,or "splittin
Page 54 and 55: Yaffling and piling dry cod.Lifting
Page 56 and 57: 'Number Two' fish was not as good.
Page 58 and 59: There were thirteen stores on the p
Page 60 and 61:
ShipwrecksWhen a schooner or other
Page 62 and 63:
The Wreck Commissioner was StoneyFo
Page 64 and 65:
The Dominion and AlarmMany sealing
Page 66 and 67:
Tragedy at the IceThe seal hunt is
Page 68 and 69:
time they made it, they found nothi
Page 70 and 71:
Jumping Ship on Fogo IslandOn Octob
Page 72 and 73:
Year's Eve, some of the men became
Page 74 and 75:
The Lumber WoodsMany local men fish
Page 76 and 77:
They would be hungry after a long,
Page 78 and 79:
Loading the Tractor Sleds Up With F
Page 80 and 81:
Lumber Woods TravelWhen on their wa
Page 82 and 83:
They did not have one thing dry to
Page 84 and 85:
true as I'm here! That was the firs
Page 86 and 87:
Since 'white ends' in the forest we
Page 88 and 89:
Man's Best FriendToday, most dogs a
Page 90 and 91:
Retriever or the 'Landseer'. The La
Page 92 and 93:
Strange EventsThe Ghost ShipA young
Page 94 and 95:
The Light in the BightOne evening i
Page 96 and 97:
BoatsBefore the days of long liners
Page 98 and 99:
The first 50 foot long liner of Fog
Page 100 and 101:
the loss of his wife and his daught
Page 102 and 103:
could hear strange noises. These so
Page 104 and 105:
medical facilities and other servic
Page 106 and 107:
Mr. William Donahue and his family
Page 108 and 109:
Anglican Church Indian Islands, 196
Page 110 and 111:
The Beheading of Michael TurpinDuri
Page 112 and 113:
Bringing WaterYears ago, people did
Page 114 and 115:
The Good SheppardsOn the morning of
Page 116 and 117:
This is a copy of Nathaniel Sheppar
Page 118 and 119:
The Fogo ProcessMany people have he
Page 120 and 121:
When people watched themselves and
Page 122 and 123:
When the Markland finally came into
Page 124 and 125:
Bits and PiecesDrifting AwayOne day
Page 126 and 127:
Swan Skin MittsWhen birding and sea
Page 128 and 129:
TravelThis photo was taken in 1956
Page 130 and 131:
My First Pair of ShoesOne lady reca
Page 132 and 133:
A Poor Night, Not Too Long AgoApril
Page 134 and 135:
As darkness approached, fog and dri
Page 136 and 137:
All of the people involved in this
Page 138 and 139:
BibliographyArticles:Author Unknown
Page 140 and 141:
Photos and IllustrationsWinston Osm
show all

tales-of-Fogo-Island

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?