Korean Job Discussion Forums

[swashbuckler]

I only met the dude like once eight years ago so my memory is kind of foggy, but isn't that his picture on page 45?

https://koreatesol.org/sites/default/files/NEAT_Stephen_Lamb.pdf

[portapottyingumi]

I believe I met him once maybe back in 2006 in Daegu. I didn't know he was YBS. I remember that a couple of times we went at it with the trolls on Dave's - mutual agreement on a topic. What can I say? ESL'ers live hard, party hard, and die hard. R.I.P. brother.

[ACFA]

Stephen was my dearest friend. He did not commit suicide, nor did cruisemonkey, who is alive and well and into his 5th year at a uni in China.

A close friend of Stephen's, who was a perfectly fluent bi-lingual French Canadian, committed suicide after he was deported from Korea after having been ratted out by some lowlife. His name was Claude and he had an MA from the Universite de Montreal. His English was accentless. I knew him and we spoke in English and French, along with Stephen, who was not bilingual but was capable of conversational French, many times. Claude could not find suitable employment in Canada, fell into a spiral of depression and hung himself.

This event hit Stephen extremely hard and he, too, started a nasty spiral of soju infused depression which led to him calling me one morning while we were in Korea and begging for help.

I immediately drove to his town and he was incoherent and inebriated beyond recognition and incapable of self-help.

I called his sister in Canada, she's a senior OR nurse, and we made arrangements to get him home.She was on the very next plane to Korea, about 3 hours after my call. Stephen got tucked away safely and, with his sister's advice, he kept a little green bottle in his hand.

His sister arrived and we met in a hotel where Stephen was tucked away. The next day I held Stephen's hand and effectively signed all the documents to get his money, pension etc. transferred to Canada. He could not hold a pen. We made flight arrangements to get him home and we put him in a taxi to Busan and I said goodbye to my friend while he and his sister took off.

She managed to get him om a flight which is a minor miracle. The flight attendants had to carry him on. They transferred in Seoul (he was carried on again) and flew to Vancouver. Stephen was in a coma when they arrived and was taken off in a stretcher and rushed by ambulance, which had been waiting for him, to the ER of the closest hospital.

Upon arrival Stephen's sister explained to the doctor, who fortunately and coincidentally, was Korean, about Stephen's soju adventure.

The doctor checked his blood alcohol level - 0.98%. Think about that. 0.08% is considered drunk. His was 20X that. Lethal.

His liver and kidneys and other sundry necessary organs had all shut down. The doctor estimated he was within 4 or 5 hours of death. If we had not acted in as timely and effective manner as we did, he wouldn't have made it that far.

Stephen was in a coma for 3 or 4 days then came out of it and straight into the DT's. He was restrained to his bed for several days.

He came out of it, spent about 3 weeks in the hospital then went to his parents house. I spoke with his father and still speak to his sister regularly.

After a short time Stephen got into a rehab program and did extremely well, completing it without any problems or relapse.

We were in contact via Skype the whole time as he was allowed out to go to the library to use the internet.

After his program he enrolled in a teacher's certificate program at a uni in NZ. He completed it and got a job teaching at the school where he had done his practicum.

He was happy, sober and had not recommenced smoking.

One day I got a call from his sister who asked if I had spoken to him recently. I said I had about a week and a half previous. She asked me to contact him again as she had received an email that was incoherent. I tried by all methods at my disposal. Stephen did not answer.

Stephen's sister called his school principal and said Stephen wasn't feeling well, not well enough to make a phone call, and he wouldn't be in to work that day.

Later that day the principal swung by his apartment with some food. When she went in Stephen was dead on the floor in front of his stove.

Stephen's father flew to NZ to collect his body and an autopsy was performed. Stephen died from a massive, sudden, heart attack. There were a few empty wine bottles and some beer bottles in his apartment.

My dear friend is dead.

RIP Stephen: BA History, MA History, PhD incomplete, Teacher's Certificate (all from English institutions: BA Canada, MA PhD USA, TC NZ)

Now you know. There's no more guessing needed.

[Zyzyfer]

-----

[ACFA]

This July will be the one year sad-niversary, since he's been gone.

[Be Good]

Sorry for your loss. I also tip my cap to you for clarifying what had actually happened. You're a good friend.

[chellovek]

That's a terribly sad story, commiserations.

[ACFA]

[Harpeau]

There are some of us that think that what ACFA wrote is BS. It isn't consistent to things the family has previously stated.

[Adam Carolla]

[goat]

ACFA is BS ing.

[Stain]

[Harpeau]

[ghostrider]

Ordinary passenger planes are not equipped to care for someone who is in a soju induced coma and may be near death. It seems like a huge risk to deprive someone who is in such a critical state of proper medical care for 12+ hours.

[PatrickGHBusan]

Sad the guy passed away.

I cannot say if the latest story is true or not.

While there are elements that are not plausible or even possible, like a passenger being carried dead drunk on a plane then transferred (ie carried) from one plane to the other in a transfer, this may just be the poster embellishing or being innacurate.