Mission Ready Podcast

Mission Ready returns with Season 2, presented by
the logo for Arc Resources Ltd., the Mission Ready season 2 sponsor.

Life-threatening illnesses and injuries can happen anytime and in the most challenging places. Thousands of people every year rely on STARS to be their best hope in a worst-case scenario. Join us for Mission Ready, a STARS podcast, as we hear from the people and patients involved in these harrowing emergencies.

Mission Ready is available on most podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible or wherever you listen to podcasts. Alternatively, you can listen directly below.

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Season 2, Episode 8: BONUS – Mental Health and Emergency Responders

Dr. Megan McElheran, a clinical psychologist who specializes in helping emergency responders, talks through the brain science behind mental health and emphasizes the data-driven importance of looking after it, particularly in the emergency response field. We also hear from Ryan Collyer, the former advanced care paramedic Dr. McElheran hired to run the Before Operational Stress program she founded. Watch Ryan and Dr. McElheran talk about their core considerations in a bonus video below.

Please don’t treat yourself like a machine because you’re not. You have a soul and are impacted by things. And that’s all the beautiful tapestry that makes us who we are. And so let’s honour that.”

– Dr. Megan McElheran, Clinical Pshychologist

Episode 8 Bonus Content

Season 2, Episode 8 Transcript

Season 2, Episode 7: Processing Trauma

Incidents like Draidyn Wollmann’s are highly uncommon, and the none among the people who came to his aid were accustomed to seeing anything like it. It took a psychological toll on each of them, so we hear how they’re coping. In this final episode of the story, Draidyn and his mom talk about the steps they’ve taken to help in their healing journey. Watch Draidyn and his mom talk about making peace with the incident location in a bonus video below.

Draidyn living and being okay — and not just living, but living in happiness and having a bright future, really aids in the mental health journey because you’re not looking back. You’ll never get those images, or maybe the fear, out of your brain completely, but you’ll learn to live with it. And debriefing after a call is really important, and confiding in your teammates is really important.”

– Kayla Burrell, first responder

Episode 7 Bonus Content

Season 2, Episode 7 Transcript

Season 2, Episode 6: Recovery and Reunion

Recovering from a traumatic event takes a village, and the support network surrounding Draidyn is helping him move forward in life. It helps that he has an incredibly grounded and positive spirit that keeps him looking forward. Part of the healing journey includes a trip to the city to reunite with the STARS crew members who flew to his side and helped to provide the critical care that saved his life. Watch Draidyn drive his ’68 Pontiac in a bonus video below.

You know deep down inside you that this could have turned out quite a bit different. It was happy, to say the least, that he was able to come back and see us at the base and to see the helicopter that he flew in.”

– Glen Pilon, STARS flight paramedic

Episode 6 Bonus Content

Season 2, Episode 6 Transcript

Season 2, Episode 5: Draidyn’s Story

For the first time, we hear directly from Draidyn his recounting of the rescue response that ultimately saved his life. Remarkably, he remembers a lot of what happened as community members, firefighters, police, first responders, and STARS crew members worked together to save his life. He even remembers parts of his arrival at the city hospital. Watch Draidyn and his mom walk around the incident scene in a bonus video below.

I would try to yell for help, but it didn’t work. I thought I was going to die there. I thought, Am I going to die here? Am I already dead and I’m just cursed or something?”

– Draidyn Wollmann, STARS Very Important Patient

Episode 5 Bonus Content

STARS Very Important Patient photographed with is mother Christine at the site of his incident in Laird, SK.

Draidyn Wollmann describes his experience to his mother Christine at the scene of his accident.

STARS Very Important Patient holds a stick while playing with a puppy at the scene of his accident. His prosthetic arm faces the camera.

Draidyn plays with his dog while walking the Mission Ready hosts through his accident at the scene.

 

Season 2, Episode 5 Transcript

Bonus: Re-release, Season 1, STARS Origins

On April 30, 2025, our founder and first CEO/President, Dr. Greg Powell, passed away at the age of 77. In his honour, we’re re-releasing Season 1’s bonus episode exploring the origins of STARS, and Dr. Powell’s vision for our organization.

Season 2, Episode 4: Transfer of Care

The industrial riding lawnmower that had been sitting on top of Draidyn Wollmann is finally removed and he’s whisked off to the STARS helicopter running nearby. His mom, who is also a first responder, has shown poise and strength and is allowed to join the flight to the city trauma centre. While en route, the STARS air medical crew continues to perform critical care on Draidyn, and hospital staff stands ready to take over. Watch the STARS flight paramedic talk about his glimmer of hope in a bonus video below.

When you lift the lawnmower deck off of him and you see a hole in his chest the size of a football… I didn’t think when we put him on the helicopter he’d be coming off alive. I was very amazed he was still alive, actually.”

– Chris Dennis, Laird Fire Chief

Episode 4 Bonus Content

A long distance photo provided by paramedic Gil Maraboto of STARS crew loading Draidyn into the back of the STARS air ambulance from the scene of the incident. A firefighter waits to assist in the Landing Zone.

STARS air medical crew and pilots work to load Draidyn into the STARS air ambulance at the scene of the incident. Photo courtesy of the paramedic on scene Gil Maraboto.

The STARS air ambulance shortly after taking off from the scene of Draidyn's incident. A firefighter kneels on the ground having assisted with the landing zone.

The STARS air ambulance shortly after taking off from the scene of Draidyn’s incident, on the way to the hospital in Saskatoon. Photo courtesy of the paramedic on scene Gil Maraboto.

Season 2, Episode 4 Transcript

Season 2, Episode 3: STARS On Scene

A STARS helicopter lands near the bustling scene where Draidyn Wollmann’s life is ebbing away from beneath the cutting deck of an industrial lawnmower. Skilled air medical crew members are stunned by what they see but lean on their robust training to quickly begin transfusing blood into Draidyn’s only intact arm and taking over his breathing. Both STARS pilots help in whatever way they can. Watch all four STARS crew members talk about their initial reactions in a bonus video below.

I had that initial shock moment of, “Wow, this is nothing I’ve ever experienced before. This is scary, this is bad.” But then I think that’s the time when your training kicks in and you know what you need to do.”

– Bailey Sinclair, STARS flight nurse

Episode 3 Bonus Content

A STARS H145 air ambulance in a field in Saskatchewan with a firefighter who has helped land the helicopter is in the foreground.

A landing zone officer waits near the STARS helicopter. This photo was taken by Gil Maraboto, the advanced care paramedic heard throughout this season of Mission Ready.

Season 2, Episode 3 Transcript

Season 2, Episode 2: First Response

As young Draidyn Wollmann fights for life beneath the cutting deck of a stalled industrial mower, emergency responders rush to his aid and STARS is dispatched from more than 60 km away. A ground paramedic soon discovers that a blade from the mower is embedded in the boy’s chest and an arm is mostly severed. Responders wonder how they’re going to remove the mower without causing further damage. Watch the ground paramedic and STARS transport physician discuss the challenge in a bonus video below.

And I thought to myself that I am burying my kid. He’s in a million pieces, knowing that there’s three blades underneath that mower deck.”

– Kevin Burrell, Firefighter and first responder

Episode 2 Bonus Content

Season 2, Episode 2 Transcript

Season 2, Episode 1: Trapped Under a Lawnmower


Teenager Draidyn Wollmann was supposed to be enjoying his first summer job, mowing public lawns for his local municipality, but one terrifying day his industrial mower falls quiet in the sleepy village and Draidyn can’t be found. When his boss finally spots the stalled machine behind the community arena, he can’t believe where he finds the boy.

And I thought to myself that I am burying my kid. He’s in a million pieces, knowing that there’s three blades underneath that mower deck.”

– Christine Wollmann, mom of STARS Very Important Patient Draidyn Wollmann

Episode 1 Bonus Content

Season 2, Episode 1 Transcript

Season 2 Trailer

A teenage boy becomes trapped under an industrial riding lawnmower. With a cutting blade embedded in his chest and a severely injured arm, he fights for life alone until he’s eventually discovered, setting off a multi-agency emergency response. STARS is dispatched, and the skilled crew that responds works shoulder-to-shoulder with allies to give the boy a chance for life.

Mission Ready, Season 1: Mauling on a Mountaintop


Marcia Birkigt is a government biologist who has been mauled by a massive cougar while she and her colleagues work in the remote wilderness. Electrical storms in the area are hampering calls to 911 and the roads to rescue her on a mountain top are deemed impassible. Our inaugural season goes in depth on an incredible story of survival, examining the details of Marcia’s harrowing attack, the critical care response she received from STARS, and the aftermath on both her and the STARS crew that worked to save her life.

Season 1 Bonus: The Perfect Soundtrack

If you loved the dramatic music in our Mission Ready podcast you will love the story behind the music. Meet 15-year-old Kaiya Gamble who drew on her talents and deep connection to STARS to create the perfect theme music for Season 1: Mauling on a Mountaintop. “STARS gave so much to my family I want to give something back,” says Kaiya.