Rescuers recognized for pulling boaters from river to safety
Published Tuesday October 27th, 2009
MIRAMICHI - Reg Boisvert still remembers the frantic moments between his boat capsizing in the freezing river and seeing help coming just in time.
"You see everything happening all over again," he said. "You see Jack (Whyte) coming at me with the boat, hear the motor coming from a distance after awhile."
A year ago, he and neighbour David Whyte were returning from a duck hunt when their boat flipped in choppy waters, pitching both into the drink.
Neither had life jackets and the two struggled to stay afloat until David's father, Jack, and neighbour Lynn Carney came to their aid.
Boisvert's mind is a blank after Carney hauled him into her boat.
"I don't remember one thing until I woke up at the hospital," he said.
"I don't know how she lifted me up in the boat with my waders on."
The Sunny Corner Fire Department's water rescue crew, as well as the RCMP, also arrived to lend assistance.
Now, a year on, Boisvert and Whyte's rescuers have been formally recognized with certificates of recognition from the province, presented last week by Public Safety Minister and Miramichi Centre MLA John Foran.
For his part, Boisvert said there was only one thing he could say.
"There's no words other than the words 'thank you.' There's no other word you can say," he said.
David Whyte's own memories of struggling to keep himself and Boisvert afloat are just as grim.
The recognition ceremony brought back some of the recollections, but he remembers the reassuring sight of his father arriving in his boat, helping Boisvert keep his head above water and the sound of Carney's motorboat cutting through the choppy water.
"I was listening for that motor, and when you hear the motor it gives you that second wind," he said.
He remembers struggling to stay awake on the journey back to shore, rolling his head from side to side to try to catch a glimpse of trees to assure himself they were close to shore.
"I can't thank them enough," he said of his father and Carney.
"I would thank both of them from the bottom of my heart."
Carney herself was overwhelmed at the recognition and seeing so many people come to witness it. The ceremony, held above the Goodie Shop, was packed.
When she was called for help by a neighbour that day a year ago, she literally dashed out her door in her socks to get her motor boat out, too flushed with adrenaline to remember to get a life jacket on.
"I never really meant to have any recognition, we're just thankful that everything turned out as well as it did," she said.
The elder Whyte, who got to the scene first, was thankful to have Carney's help, as his own boat was too light to drag one or both of the men into without flipping.
"I knew as soon as I saw the boat that we'd be all right," he said.
He heard a neighbour yelling as she rushed to tell him what had happened.
"I knew right away who it was, and I went down and, God, it was even worse, when you saw all the debris in the water and the boat upset," he said.
While he was happy to see Carney recognized, he seemed humbled by his own accolades.
"It was nice to see that she was recognized, because I really didn't want anything like this "¦ I just did what I had to do," he said.
Foran said the younger Whyte approached his office some weeks ago to see about some kind of award for the rescuers and he felt they deserved it.
As the province of New Brunswick does not have any medals as such, he arranged for certificates of recognition.
"They were willing to put their own lives in jeopardy, because neither one of them wore a life jacket or thought to get one," he said. "They just wanted to get out and save people."
Disabled
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
