The one that got away

Back on 07 November 21 I shared a story titled “Refueller” which was submitted by Capt (ret.) John Thompson, who judging by his stories, served a very interesting 36 year career with the CAF.

John provided me with three incredible experiences he had while serving in the CAF and this is the second that I have the privilege of sharing here on Unbloused.

As a former medic myself I’ve heard and been a part of some pretty incredible stories, but the one that John relates below that took place during his time at the Kingston military hospital is on a whole other level.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

All the best,

John

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Another True story from my past: I was a medic at the Base Hospital in Kingston. That hospital looked after the inmates from the surrounding penitentiaries back then. We had half a wing on the second floor sectioned off with guards 24/7.

This one time there was one room full of some seriously bad inmates. Two or three I believe were in for murder. They had two visitors who went there one week, one female and one male. The female snuck a roll of fishing line into this room. Then the next night in the wee hours 3 or 4 AM the inmates lowered the fishing line out their window where the male visitor tied a semi automatic rifle to the fishing line. They then began raising the rifle.

Now the hospital had these metal grates that stuck out from the side of the hospital. I have no idea why or what purpose they served, but the rifle got caught in this metal grate and the fishing line broke and the rifle fell down into the bushes below. By this time the guy who tied the rifle to the fishing line was long gone.

The inmates decided to call the Med Tech on duty down to the room. I was scheduled to come in that morning, it was on a Saturday night and I was coming in early Sunday morning. I actually came in an hour early because I forgot to set the alarm clock when the hour was being changed ahead. I'll come back to this.

So the inmates from this room call the Med Tech down and tries to bribe him to get the rifle and tie it to the fishing line again. So he goes out and sure enough, the rifle is there. He goes back up and tells the guards. Well, of course shit hits the fan, the police are called, and the inmates are immediately sent back to prison. The very next day, the Med Tech is posted along with his family for safety and security reasons.

So, I come in an hour before my shift starts and I see all the commotion and find out what happened.

I could have walked into a blood bath since these guys would have killed anyone who got in their way on this break out.

Pretty wild eh!