Well I know that I'll certainly remember Athabasca.....why.....because I helped save a man from drowning!!
As I was getting ready to pack up camp, a fisherman came hurrying across to me and asked if I had a rope to help get someone out of the river. Though a little dubious I grabbed my throw bag and headed in the direction that the fisherman went. Sure enough there at the bottom of the steep bank was a guy in the river calling for help. I threw him my throw bag but the guy was so inebriated and hyperthermic that he was unable to grab the rope, so the fisherman went down the slippery bank to tie the rope on him.
As I was getting ready to pack up camp, a fisherman came hurrying across to me and asked if I had a rope to help get someone out of the river. Though a little dubious I grabbed my throw bag and headed in the direction that the fisherman went. Sure enough there at the bottom of the steep bank was a guy in the river calling for help. I threw him my throw bag but the guy was so inebriated and hyperthermic that he was unable to grab the rope, so the fisherman went down the slippery bank to tie the rope on him.
The guy was too heavy and in such a state that he couldn't help himself and we had no chance of getting him up so I held onto him to keep him from falling back in the water whilst the fisherman called 911.
In the meantime another person arrived and he held onto the rope whilst I quickly undressed down to my undies (lucky I had them on!!) and got into the water. It was going to be the only way to get him out. I got behind the guy and started pushing up with my knees whilst pulling on the rope. The other rescuer was also pulling the rope tied to the guy. By using my knees and pushing up centimtre by centimetre and continually picking him up as he fell to one side we managed to get him to the top of the bank.
By the time I got him to the top of the bank both of us were covered with mud. All three of us (rescuers) together carried him across to a bench next to a barbeque where we sat him down. The guy mumbled something about not having any more clothes and tried to stand up, but he was still unable to stand on his own two legs and promptly fell over and split his head on the barbeque. Now not only was he drunk and hyperthermic but he was bleeding from the cut to his head! Fortunately it wasn't long after this that the ambulance arrived, followed by the police and just for good measure also the firebrigade.
I wondered whilst I was in the shower warming up, if this guy would remember why he had such a sore head when he woke up!!
Needless to say our start to the day was a bit later than usual.
I wondered whilst I was in the shower warming up, if this guy would remember why he had such a sore head when he woke up!!
Needless to say our start to the day was a bit later than usual.
Pictures below taken by the third rescuer.
Terry & Tony launching the Canoe from their Athabasca campsite
No comments:
Post a Comment