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Edel Fernandez, who recently returned from several weeks in Mexico (during that time his father died due to complications from COVID), gave his classification speech, filling in for another member who was unable to attend due to illness. He read a short essay/poem describing himself before telling a story about his experience following what doctors believe may have been a seizure.
Edel was born in central Mexico in April 1974, and met his wife, who was a foreign exchange student going to school in Mexico nearly 22 years ago. He immigrated to Minnesota on Sept. 6, 2000. On July 4, 2020, during a trip to a local lake with his family, he was playing in the water with his children when he suddenly went underwater. At first, his daughter thought he was playing a joke, but quickly realized he was in danger.
Edel says he remembers nothing of what happened, but was relaying the story based on what he has been told. Edel was pulled from the water and airlifted to a trauma center where he spent 19 days in the ICU, unconscious. After waking up, he spent another week in the hospital before being released.
In the days after he awoke, Edel says he dreamed of thieves trying to steal from him. He finally fought back against the thieves, yelling at them to stop. Doing that, he said, put an end to his bad dreams. Surviving a near death experience got Edel to realize he needed to give back to the community. He chose the Faribault Rotary Club as his vehicle to give back.