Patient Story: John Beaupre
“We don’t appreciate you guys until we really need you,” John Beaupre shared in a recent conversation with LifeFlight of Maine staff members.
John has quite the story to tell — even before he gets to the part where he’s lying unconscious in the back of a LifeFlight helicopter in March 2025 — and he’s very good at telling stories.
John grew up in Waterville and went to school at the University of Maine in Orono. He’s an avid skier and a life-long Sugarloafer. He had a 35-year career as the owner of four grocery and liquor stores around Carrabassett Valley, which centrally locates John in what he himself described as “an incredibly prosperous, recreationally focused community.” He added: “We have a lot of fun!”
John retired in 2024 and has a lot to be proud of: his business career, his family, his health and sobriety, his many friends, and his community. He spent 24 years serving the residents and visitors of Carrabassett Valley as a member of the Select Board. “I’ve been a huge advocate for public safety,” John said. “It was a huge part of what we did as a Select Board. We don’t have a hospital. Outdoor communities like mine, we need you guys. I owe LifeFlight, and healthcare professionals in general, my life.” He speaks about his career and community humbly and excitedly, with the reverence of a man grateful for every moment. “I’m the luckiest man in the world,” John said.
John and his wife, Tracy, now live in Westbrook year-round, after spending years commuting back and forth between the Portland area and Carrabassett Valley.
In March of 2025, a few months into retirement, a close friend invited John to join him for a day of skiing at Sunday River in Bethel. It wasn’t John’s usual mountain, but he was happy to spend time with his buddy who sounded over the phone like he needed to get out of town for the day to clear his head. John agreed to go. “A chairlift is a good place to talk,” John said.
“It was a beautiful day, and I skied with a great friend,” John said. “Conditions were wonderful, but I inadvertently went on a trail with very icy and difficult terrain.” This is where the LifeFlight part of his story begins. “’Shockwave’ is the hardest trail there,” according to John. “I didn’t know Sunday River as well as I know my mountain [Sugarloaf]. For some reason I took the lead on the last run of the day. I ended up on that trail, and it cost me dearly.”
“I wrapped myself around my ski pole,” John recalled. “I remember falling over and going downhill on my back like a turtle going over those big bumps in the ice.” He went off the trail, into the woods, and hit a tree. “I think Ski Patrol had to get a chainsaw to cut me out. I remember going down the hill on their toboggan,” John said.
That was March 14, 2025. Sunday River Ski Patrol brought John down the mountain. A MaineHealth EMS ambulance brought him to Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway. (LifeFlight teams will sometimes utilize a hospital helipad with established helicopter approach and departure procedures, where they will meet local EMS agencies and transfer a patient without admitting them to that hospital.) From there, the LifeFlight crew — pilot Kevin Beaulieu, flight nurse Brandon Mayo, flight paramedic Paul Silva, and flight nurse orientee Michelle Fromzel — flew John to MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Tracy left their home in Westbrook and dashed into the hospital as the helicopter carrying John was landing on the roof.
John spent three-and-a-half weeks in the hospital recovering from his injuries and the complications that followed. He had broken six ribs and both of his collarbones. He had hit the tree so hard his helmet had shattered. His face needed stitches.
Fast forward to November 2025, and it’s a story that’s hard to believe even as he’s sitting around a table retelling it. He attributes his recovery to two factors. The first is his good health before the accident. “I was very healthy. I was about as healthy as I could be,” John said, beaming with the pride of someone who had experienced health challenges before, persevered, and come out the other side even stronger. “To be here eight months later,” John said, “it’s a miracle.”
The second is the exceptional, lifesaving care he received from start to finish — Sunday River Ski Patrol, MaineHealth EMS, LifeFlight of Maine, Maine Medical Center. “After years in Carrabassett Valley and skiing at Sugarloaf, I understand the importance of having access to care,” John said. “Recreationally focused communities, we need you guys. I have tremendous respect and admiration for LifeFlight, and I am making it my mission to help more people in Maine understand what LifeFlight does for our communities before they need it.”
