The Night of the Banting Plane Crash
I was just a little girl of 7.5 years old, and will always remember the night of the plane crash that happened in a place referred to as "7 Mile Waters" near Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland. On February 21, 1941, our family (the Sturge's), Esau, Naomi, Lester, Walter, Gaye, Alice, and myself, Ruby, were living in a cabin in the country, down around the Shalloway area where the Way's family had my father employed to help cut timbers for a schooner called the "Beatrice &Verna Way." At the time of this writing, from all the people who were at the cabins down to Shalloway the night of the plane crash, there is only my sister Gaye and I left living. Both Gaye and I remember that it was a beautiful moonlit night during the month of February. While inside the cabin, we heard a plane flying overhead and my father said, "That plane has engine trouble." My father, mother and all of us siblings rushed outside and witnessed the plane flying low, lights flashing, and disappearing below the treeline. Father wanted the boys (the Ways) to take lanterns and go into the trail where they were cutting timbers and nobody wanted to go. With nobody to accompany him on the trails, father didn't want to go by himself. The next day the news came forth that a plane had crashed in a place called "7 Mile Waters." We later learned that it was a plane carrying Dr. Frederick Banting, one of the two men who discovered insulin, the other being Dr. Charles Best. Quite some time later in life, I had the opportunity to visit the home of Dr. Frederick Banting, which is now known as the Banting Museum in London, Ontario. During my visit to the museum, I had the pleasure of sitting on Dr. Banting's bed where he had what is known as his dream. His dream was about what to do to find the cure for diabetes. From the museum information, he followed his dream and co-discovered insulin, allowing thousands of lives to be saved. Dr. Frederick Banting's resting place is at Mount Pleasant cemetery in Toronto, Ontario. Submitted By: DH Editorial
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