Good Samaritan comes to the rescue after canoe capsizes in the Saanich Peninsula

Good Samaritan comes to the rescue after canoe capsizes in the Saanich Peninsula
CHEK

A Good Samaritan rushed to rescue two people who wound up in frigid waters after their canoe capsized north of Island View Beach on the Saanich Peninsula Monday afternoon.

Capt. Richard Szegidewicz of the Joint Rescue Co-Ordination Centre in Esquimalt says they received a call via 911 around 4:15 p.m.

An observer on shore told them that two people were in the water after their canoe had flipped over about 100 to 200 meters from shore.

While still on the line, the caller told them that a third party had gone into the water with a log and was making his way towards the canoe.

In the meantime, the Coast Guard initiated a response, a Sea-King helicopter was dispatched from Victoria International Airport and a Parks Canada boat was also heading to help in the rescue.

The Parks Canada boat was the first to arrive. But by then, the JRCC says that the Good Samaritan had managed to get the two people in the water to hold onto the log and he’d taken them back to shore.

RCMP and BC Ambulance attended and JRCC reports that the impromptu rescuer and the two people who’d been in the capsized canoe were unharmed.

 

 

 

Ben O'HaraBen O'Hara

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