WATCH: Three Good Samaritans are credited with saving the lives of three exchange students last summer. The teens were in distress in Thetis Lake when a boater and two paddle boarders pulled them to safety. Now the B.C. and Yukon Lifesaving Society wants to recognize their efforts at a special ceremony in March. But no one knows the identity of the two women. Mary Griffin reports.
Ian Greenwood points to the spot in Thetis Lake where last year he and two women saved the lives of three teenagers.
“I was kind of in the middle there. Definitely closer to the other side of the lake.”
While out on the lake on June 26, 2017, he realized within a few minutes that a trio of teens were struggling. “They were in trouble. So I just started paddling out there as fast as I could.”
Video shot on shore by Reema Guenter captured the unfolding drama. Greenwood is in the fishing belly boat heading straight for the teen in the most distress.
“I paddled as fast as I could towards him. Once I got to him, I grabbed him, and brought his hands to the side of my belly boat,” Greenwood said. “His eyes were bugging out of his head. You could tell that he was in distress. I just calmed him down and started bringing him to shore.”
That’s when two women arrived on paddle boards and helped with the rescue. They brought the other two teens to shore and stayed until emergency personnel arrived. View Royal Fire Chief Paul Hurst said there is no doubt the three rescuers are heroes. “That young boy that was pulled up, I’d say that he was a breath away from going under,” Hurst said. “And it would have gone from a rescue, and a good news story, to a recovery. And devastation for a family.”
The rescue is why the B.C. and Yukon Lifesaving Society is looking for the two women. It’s going to recognize them and Greenwood with the society’s Commonwealth Award in March. Hurst said the award is the right move.
“And so they should be recognized. I think it is in everybody to step up and do the right thing. And in this particular instance, you know, three strangers happened to be at the absolutely right place at the right time,” Hurst said.
Greenwood says he doesn’t believe he is a hero. however. “Oh god. No. Right place, right time.”
If you know the identity of the two women from the June rescue, contact CHEK News at [email protected].
Mary Griffin
