Tell Me What Happened

OnStar

Things don’t always go as planned: Sometimes a drive in the mountains, or a swim in the ocean, suddenly turns into a dangerous situation. Other times it might be a medical emergency, or a family lost in a foreign country. These are the true stories of people helping people during the most pivotal moments in their lives. Each episode also includes a conversation with an expert to provide added advice around crisis situations. Featured guests from the first two seasons include a psychologist, a search-and-rescue expert offering practical tips for surviving a blizzard when you are caught in a remote area, an emergency management expert and many more. Tell Me What Happened is brought to you by OnStar. read less

Our Editor's Take

Tell Me What Happened shares conversations between survivors and their rescuers. The podcast explores what happens when crises happen. These could be natural disasters, accidents, or health emergencies. If listeners find themselves in danger, they may have the information to survive.

Dr. Torah Kachur hosts the podcast. She is a columnist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio One. Kachur is also a lecturer at the University of Alberta. In addition to this program, she hosts and produces national radio shows. In Tell Me What Happened, she talks with experts, survivors, and everyday heroes.

“What would you do if a wildfire ripped through your town? If you had a serious accident while hiking?” These are some of the questions the podcast considers. Acting fast is critical. But sometimes, Kachur says, people aren't able to help themselves. They must rely on strangers' bravery and kindness to survive.

In one episode, guest Kristy Millar discusses Hurricane Ian. Despite all her preparation, she and her three-year-old son found themselves trapped. Their home was flooding, and they had no way out. They would have to swim. What happened when one man decided to rescue his mother, Cristy's neighbor? How did he navigate a borrowed boat through the stormy and dangerous streets? Listeners find out and also hear from the American Red Cross' Grace Meinhofer about what happened.

Another fascinating episode tells the story of Ryan Osmun and his girlfriend, who spent twelve hours stuck in quicksand. His heroic rescue by Faris “Faz” Ali is inspiring. One never knows when they're going to be desperate for help. Aidan Jackson was playing video games when he had a seizure. He was alone, except for the other gamer he'd been playing with. Raven Wolfsbane, although 5,000 miles away, knew she had to do something. Thanks to her, Aidan lives today.

Each Tell Me What Happened episode features real stories like these. Listeners hear from experts about what to do in many disastrous situations. The podcast releases two episodes per month.

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Society & CultureSociety & Culture
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Episodes

Escaping the Hawaii Wildfires
Apr 22 2024
Escaping the Hawaii Wildfires
Lani Williams and her mother, Sincerity, could smell smoke, but that wasn’t rare on Maui. Brush fires happen with some regularity. This fire, they quickly learned, was different. Five hundred miles to the south, Hurricane Dora had kicked up unusually troublesome winds. In Lahaina, Hawaii, where Lani and Sincerity lived, those winds downed power lines and whipped sparks into a full-blown wildfire that was closing in on them. They tried to escape the blaze by car, but the main roads were either closed or blocked by a crush of panicked drivers trying to leave town. They were stuck between the fire on one side and the ocean on the other.Benny Reinicke smelled smoke that morning too and found himself in the same logjam of frightened drivers desperately trying to flee Lahaina. Amidst smoke and flames and exploding cars, he spotted Lani struggling to help her mom climb the seawall and get to safety. He took it upon himself to make sure they made it.We also speak with wildfire expert Michele Steinberg from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) about how you can identify hazards and strategies to help protect against wildfires.If you’d like to help the residents of Lahaina and others impacted by natural disasters, you can donate to the American Red Cross at redcross.org/donate/cm/onstar-pub.html/For a limited time, OnStar is offering a special promotion for eligible Tell Me What Happened listeners with an OnStar equipped vehicle – 20% off a new annual plan. To get activated, call us at 1-888-466-7827 or push the blue OnStar button in your vehicle to speak to an advisor and be sure to give them the promo code OnStarPodcast. Terms and conditions apply, offer excludes data plans. Please visit onstar.com or speak to an advisor for service details and information about plans and pricing. Learn more about the show here:https://www.onstar.com/podcast
Under an Avalanche
Apr 8 2024
Under an Avalanche
Bob Tillotson knew the avalanche danger was high when he set out with friends into the Utah backcountry on his snowmobile. But he also knew which areas to avoid. Or so he thought. On January 13, 2024, an avalanche hit Bob without warning, carrying him down the mountain in a wave of snow. When he stopped, he was completely buried and separated from his group.Dustin Sweeten was snowmobiling with a separate crew that day. Just before he was ready to head home, he saw what looked like an avalanche in the distance and went to go check it out. When he got there, he saw two people from Bob’s group. They told him their friend was buried. Then they saw a glove poking out of the snow. We also speak with Sandra Riches, the executive director of British Columbia AdventureSmart, about outdoor winter safety and what to do if you or someone you’re with is in an avalanche.For a limited time, OnStar is offering a special promotion for eligible Tell Me What Happened listeners with an OnStar equipped vehicle – 20% off a new annual plan. To get activated, call us at 1-888-466-7827 or push the blue OnStar button in your vehicle to speak to an advisor and be sure to give them the promo code OnStarPodcast. Terms and conditions apply, offer excludes data plans. Please visit onstar.com or speak to an advisor for service details and information about plans and pricing.Video credit: Ammon Sweeten / YouTube @MountainWolf-ut. Learn more about the show here:https://www.onstar.com/podcast
Trapped in a Flooding Elevator
Mar 25 2024
Trapped in a Flooding Elevator
When Gabriel Otrin and Klever Freire stepped into their office elevator, they naturally assumed they’d be able to get out. It was August 2018, and a massive downpour was causing floods all over Toronto. Gabriel and Klever were working late and went to check on Klever’s car in the basement garage. Before they reached the bottom, however, the elevator stopped with a jerk and began to quickly fill with water. They couldn’t open the doors. They were trapped.Police officers Ryan Barnett and Josh McSweeney had just finished a call when another came over the radio. Two men were trapped in an elevator. When they arrived, the garage was completely flooded and Ryan had to swim to the elevator doors. He could hear Klever and Gabriel inside calling for help. He needed to act fast.We also speak with Julie Munger, an internationally acclaimed swift-water rescue instructor, about how to safely navigate fast-moving water and urban floods.For a limited time, OnStar is offering a special promotion for eligible Tell Me What Happened listeners with an OnStar equipped vehicle – 20% off a new annual plan. To get activated, call us at 1-888-466-7827 or push the blue OnStar button in your vehicle to speak to an advisor and be sure to give them the promo code OnStarPodcast. Terms and conditions apply, offer excludes data plans. Please visit onstar.com or speak to an advisor for service details and information about plans and pricing. Learn more about the show here:https://www.onstar.com/podcast
Badly Burned in Iceland
Mar 11 2024
Badly Burned in Iceland
Nicole Rakowski arrived in Iceland looking for adventure. She left in a wheelchair. In February 2017, Nicole and two friends hiked to a natural hot spring just south of Reykjavík. When they arrived, Nicole took off her boots, changed into her bathing suit and stepped onto the riverbank beside the steaming water. She immediately began to sink into the mud and felt excruciating pain. She screamed for help. Lee Ricasa was taking a relaxing dip in a nearby mud pool when he heard a scream followed by the sight of panicked hikers carrying Nicole and desperately searching for help. A retired firefighter, Lee knew Nicole was in bad shape. She had third-degree burns on her legs and feet. She couldn’t walk. She was drifting in and out of consciousness and could go into shock at any moment. He knew he had to take control of the situation if Nicole was going to survive.We also talk to Tod Schimelpfenig, an instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School since 1973, about how to treat burns in the wilderness.For a limited time, OnStar is offering a special promotion for eligible Tell Me What Happened listeners with an OnStar equipped vehicle – 20% off a new annual plan. To get activated, call us at 1-888-466-7827 or push the blue OnStar button in your vehicle to speak to an advisor and be sure to give them the promo code OnStarPodcast. Terms and conditions apply, offer excludes data plans. Please visit onstar.com or speak to an advisor for service details and information about plans and pricing. Learn more about the show here:https://www.onstar.com/podcast
Saved from the Nazis, Rescued from Ukraine
Aug 14 2023
Saved from the Nazis, Rescued from Ukraine
In 1941, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, the Bogancha family saved two young Jewish girls from Nazi soldiers, giving them fake identities and hiding them in an orphanage. That act of kindness would ripple across time and, amazingly, lead to the help their descendants needed after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.Connecting those dates begins with a book. In 2009, Greg Dawson published Hiding in the Spotlight, a book about his mother, Zhanna Arshanskaya Dawson. She was a 14 year-old piano prodigy in 1941 when German soldiers rounded up her family along with the rest of the Jews in her Ukrainian town. Miraculously, Zhanna and her sister, Frina, escaped and found temporary shelter with the Boganchas. With new identities, they survived by playing concerts for German soldiers. After the war, they emigrated to the United States and started over.In 2013, Marina Orlovetsky, also from Kharkiv, Ukraine, read Greg’s book. She was so moved by the story that she tracked down and befriended Zhanna, Greg and the descendants of the Boganchas. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2023, the Boganchas fled their home in Kharkiv. Marina, who had never met the Boganchas in person, offered to help their 18-year-old son, Alex, get to the United States and go to college. Marina turns to Zhanna’s son, Greg, offering the Dawsons the opportunity to return a kindness to the Boganchas. We also speak with Una Bilic, a deputy director with the International Rescue Committee, to discuss the process refugees go through to move to the U.S. and how we can support them.We are conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners and we want to hear from you.What do you like about the show? What would you like to hear more of? Let us know at www.tmwh.clubYou can also vote for your favorite episode of Season 3 and we’ll rebroadcast the winner with extended audio that will make it even more compelling! Learn more about the show here:https://www.onstar.com/podcast
A Panic Attack and a Calming Voice
Jul 31 2023
A Panic Attack and a Calming Voice
When her crowded New York City subway train screeched to an emergency stop, K.Page Stuart Valdes melted in fear. She’d recently had a stroke nobody could explain. Terrified it would happen again, right there surrounded by strangers, K.Page felt anxiety wash over her. Until one warm voice cut through the fog. That stranger, just another face on a train moments before, helped K.Page find her way out of the panic attack and get on with her day. Then the stranger was gone. But her kindness was critical and helped K.Page realize that she needed mental health support. Today, K.Page would love nothing more than to find the woman who stepped up and steadied her world. Please share this episode and let’s see if we can find her. We also speak with Natalia Dayan, a licensed social worker and the global strategy director at Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit organization that provides free, high-quality, text-based 24/7 mental health support and crisis intervention in English and Spanish.  If you need mental health resources or support please reach out:Visit the Crisis Text Line website or text 741741.Call 988 or visit the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website.Or visit the OnStar Veterans support website. We are conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners and we want to hear from you.What do you like about the show? What would you like to hear more of? Let us know at www.tmwh.clubYou can also vote for your favorite episode of Season 3 and we’ll rebroadcast the winner with extended audio that will make it even more compelling! --- Cuando su tren abarrotado del subterráneo de la Ciudad de New York chillaba hasta parar por emergencia, K. Page Stuart Valdes se descomponía por el miedo. Ella recientemente había tenido un infarto que nadie podía explicar. Aterrada de que volvería a pasar, ahí mismo rodeada por extraños, K. Page sentía como la ansiedad la abrumada. Hasta que una cálida voz cortó por la neblina.Ese extraña, un acara cualquiera en el tren momentos antes, ayudó a K. Page a encontrar su forma de salir del ataque de pánico y a seguir con su día. Luego la extraña había desaparecido. Pero su amabilidad fue crítica y ayudó a K. Page a darse cuenta que ella necesitaba ayuda en su salud mental. Hoy, a K. Page no le encantaría nada más que encontrar a la mujer que dio un paso adelante y puso su mundo en firme. Por favor comparta este episodio para ver si la podemos encontrar a ella. También hablamos con Natalia Dayan, una trabajadora social licenciada y la Directora de Estrategia Global en la Crisis Text Line (Línea de Texto de Crisis) para discutir la salud mental y cómo apoyarnos mutuamente.Si usted necesita recursos para la salud mental o apoyo por favor comuníquese:Visite la página web de la Crisis Text Line o envíe un texto al 741741. Llame al 988  o visite la página web del 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline(Línea de Suicido y Crisis).O visite la página web de OnStar Veterans support (Apoyo a Veteranos de OnStar). Learn more about the show here:https://www.onstar.com/podcast
Hero Battles Hurricane, Finds New Family
Jun 19 2023
Hero Battles Hurricane, Finds New Family
Kristy Millar spent days preparing for Hurricane Ian, but when the storm hit, her family ended up trapped in their rapidly flooding home. They escaped, but the storm had turned their street into a river. To get to higher ground, Kristy and her 3-year-old son were going to have to swim. Enter Kevin Ott.Ott was also out in the storm, determined to rescue his kids’ grandmother — who happened to be Kristy’s neighbor. Driving a borrowed pontoon boat through canal-like streets in a Category 4 hurricane, Kevin and his kids ended up rescuing Kristy, her son and 10 other neighbors, including Grandma, that day. We also talk to Grace Meinhofer, a spokesperson with the American Red Cross who has personal experience with hurricanes, for advice on how to prepare for storm season. The American Red Cross name and emblem are used with its permission, which in no way constitutes an endorsement, express or implied, of any product, service, company, opinion or political position. The American Red Cross logo is a registered trademark owned by The American National Red Cross. For more information about the American Red Cross, please visit redcross.org.We are conducting a survey to learn more about our listeners and we want to hear from you.What do you like about the show? What would you like to hear more of? Let us know at www.tmwh.clubYou can also vote for your favorite episode of Season 3 and we’ll rebroadcast the winner with extended audio that will make it even more compelling! Learn more about the show here:https://www.onstar.com/podcast