I won’t forget yesterday.
We were about to go out on a cruise, when suddenly we heard screams. The captain ordered me to get a life ring fast. The captain, first mate, and I ran over 50 feet away; to the bottom of the canal locks. A family, that seemed alone, were screaming the name of thier loved one at the water.
A lady had fallen from the bottom lock into the Ottawa River. That’s a drop of what – 20/25 feet? She wasn’t anywhere to be seen. They were draining the water from the locks, which I guess was producing a strong undertow. The captain was screaming to a locksperson to shut off the water. The locksperson was screaming some gibberish back; but wasn’t shutting off the water. We stood there, trying to find any sign of her in the water as more kept rushing in.
Another of the family member jumped into the river, looking for her. He moved around furiously as the others in his family tried to direct him. Nothing. He was going here, there, everywhere but she was nowhere to be found.
Nothing. Nowhere. Time passed. Just nothing.
In what felt like 4 minutes later; a terrible 4 minutes; a body emerged. Face down in the water, motionless. It was her. The family member went for her. There were 4 of us there from our company. The river captain (my captain), the first mate (the person who I assist in such events), a canal captain that was down there to oversee the ticket selling operations, and myself. The canal captain jumped in. By that time, an offduty paramedic came by; and directed the persons to make sure her head was floating above water as they tried to swim back with her body.
They pulled her up from the river. “On the grass!” he screamed. She wasn’t breathing. She didn’t have a pulse. She had been under for 4 minutes. The paramedic asked if anyone knew CPR. The captain (river captain) did, and began to do chest pumps as the paramedic gave mouth to mouth. They were doing it. They kept doing it. But the lady… nothing. Her child was nearby, crying for his mother as she lay there without a pulse. I won’t ever forget that child. More pumps, more mouth to mouth… Nothing… This went on for what seemed like forever, and I thought that that child would loose his mother.
Pumps Pumps. Nothing. Pumps Pumps. Nothing.
Finally, something. She shook; the paramedic tried to get a conscious response out of her… if she did respond, I didn’t see it. They got her on her side. Thank god for that off-duty firefighter/paramedic. If it wasn’t for him… and for the captain… and for the canal captain… I don’t know if she would of made it.
But its not over. Once the situation was under control, we left. We were late. Finally, minutes later, the first ambulance arrived. The paramedic later came back to us. She was in critical condition at the hospital. Seven minutes is a long time without oxygen to the brain.
I pray that that child will have his mother back. I won’t ever forget that child, or that lifeless body floating up from the depths of the Ottawa River.