05/31/2026
Today we honour Ontario paramedics Chris Snowball and Dustin Dagenais
On May 31 2013 shortly after midnight Ornge 7793 crashed after taking off from Moosonee airport heading to Attawapiskat to pick up a patient. Paramedics Chris Snowball and Dustin Dagenais as well as both pilots, Captain Don Filliter and First Officer Jaques Dupuy all lost their lives in the crash. Below are memories shared by Allie Scott, wife of Chris Snowball and Darren Rowntree, friend and colleague of Dustin Dagenais
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Chris Snowball
Chris and I met when we were 16, he told me that he wanted to be a paramedic. From the beginning he worked hard and took extra courses to be the best he could be. After graduating from Niagara College Chris started his career in Hamilton Patient Transfer Service; he also spent his weekends at Flamboro Speedway as a first aid attendant. After a couple of years, Chris found a job in Nova Scotia in a little town on Cape Breton Island. Chris even became a volunteer fire fighter and was also a certified diver for the fire department. After spending 10 years in Nova Scotia Chris decided it was time to move back to Ontario where he got a job in Northern Ontario in Moosonee. Chris worked for Wabusk for a couple of years before getting a job with Ornge.
Chris loved sports. He was a goalie in high school and even after he joined a men’s league. Chris became a referee so he could stay on the ice saying he was too old to play anymore. He loved his time at home with his family and friends. You could always find him in his chair at the front of the house sun tanning and smoking his chocolate ci**rs with his dog at his side. The girls would love to sit on the couch and watch the Toronto Maple Leafs game with him and Nascar racing as well. Chris was always the life of the party and I know that the guys would have so many stories to tell. May 24 weekend was one of his favorite times of year, the fire works the big campfires and the time with all the family and friends. It isn’t the same without him at the regular May 24 party.
The night of May 31, 2013 was a night I would never forget. The phone rang at 3:30am and they said they lost contact with his helicopter. I was thinking that they would find them and they would all be ok. Time went by and I waited for that call to come in. When I got that call it wasn’t what I was hoping for. My whole world came crashing down. All I could think was how was I going to tell our girls he wasn’t ever coming home. I was in disbelief that he was gone and I would never be able to see him again.
Chris would take the train back and forth up north for work. Shortly after Chris passed, I received a call from a lady that wanted me to know just what a kind guy he was. She was boarding the train to go home and decided to sit across from Chris, but just as she was about to sit down the train je**ed and she fell on top of Chris who was sleeping. She said that he woke up, he saw that she had a bad knee, I think she said from a surgery. Chris went and got her ice and stayed with her and kept her comfortable the rest of the way home till she got off the train. She was so impressed with him and she even remembered that he had a Toronto Maple Leaf pillow and blanket. He always had that with him so he could sleep on the way up and the way back. That phone call was a perfect reminder of Chris.
You will always be missed we love you
Allie Scott, wife of Chris Snowball
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Dustin Dagenais
The night of May 30th and morning of May 31st 2013 were days that I will never forget. That night I was working Ornge Air Ambulance 796 in Timmins. I still remember every detail and every call about that night. Our first call was a serious head injury that we brought to Sudbury. Once we were there, we got a call for another serious patient, to go out from Sudbury. A crew member from Sudbury 798 met us at the Sudbury Hospital since this was a Critical Care call. I remember driving the ambulance back to the airport. When we got there, a pilot I knew very well informed me that a helicopter was missing. He told me it was from Moosonee. I remember selfishly just hoping Dagger wasn’t working that night. After we loaded the patient into the plane, I rushed into the base to find out who was working in Moosonee and was informed it was Dagger.
I remember feeling so helpless not knowing what was happening and wanting to talk to my wife, who is also a paramedic, but didn’t want to wake her up that early in the morning with no real info on what was happening. After being in contact with Dustin’s wife and cousin, I remember finding out that Dustin passed away and feeling so helpless and alone at the 798 base and just wanted to get back to Timmins. Luckily the 796 pilots came back and picked me up and brought me back to base, where many of my co-workers were waiting for me once I got off the plane, knowing my connection with Dustin.
Dustin and I became close friends when we both attended the Northern College Paramedic Program in 2005. We immediately hit it off with both our love for sports, especially hockey. The moment you met Dagger, you felt like he was your best friend. After finishing school, Dagger came up to work with me in Attawapiskat where we got to work and live together. It was so awesome to work with him because the moment he got up there he made an impact in the community and at the base where he was loved by everyone. After I got a job with Cochrane District EMS, we stayed in contact daily.
When Dagger got married he asked me to be apart of his wedding party and I could not be more honoured because he was someone I really looked up to. I cannot think of anyone else where I have that many amazing funny and ridiculous stories to talk about. When Dagger started working for Ornge, he would always come down to Timmins for his CME and stay at my house. The few times I dutied-out in Moose, I would always stay at his place instead of taking hotel, just so we could see each other.
The year that Dagger passed away he was suppose to be in my wedding party that year, and definitely left a big hole, not having him around. We did our best to honour him as much as possible, because he was surely missed. When my wife and I had our first son in February 2015 we asked Josée (Dustin’s wife) if we could use Dagger’s name for our son’s middle name, she graciously agreed. So now we have our son Nash Dustin Rowntree, who sometimes pulls off some very Dagger-like things lol.
The last thing I can say is I have never met someone as amazing as Dustin “Dagger” Dagenais, and I’m not just saying that because he’s not with us anymore. He just truly was one of the best people I have ever met. He made everyone feel welcomed, everyone feel loved and made everyone feel special. He was an incredible paramedic because he was so well spoken and made patients feel comfortable, even at their worst moments. He left behind his amazing wife and daughter, friends, and family but he is still remembered through pictures, memorials at bases, and most importantly, the stories that everyone has, even if they met him just once.
Darren Rowntree, Friend and colleague of Dustin Dagenais
