Nanoose Bay, B.C., resident Jane Currie was working in her front yard on Monday evening when she heard faint cries for help.
“They were muffled calls, but they were stringent and it could have been ravens, could have been golfers yelling on the golf course,” she said.
Currie decided to investigate and move towards the sound.
“As I went down towards where the sound was louder because they were intermittent, there’d be a call and then silence and then a few more calls and then silence,” she said.
“And as I got closer to it, moving towards the woods and towards the water, I heard ‘Help me’ and that’s when I really sort of became alert that something is really happening here.
“It’s not a bird, it’s not a golfer. It’s not an animal howling in the bush. And then I heard, ‘Help me, help me’.”
Currie continued walking and calling out to the person but never heard an answer.
That’s when she called 911 and was told she was the second person to call with a report.
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Robb Wilson, who works with Wyndscapes Contracting to transport personnel from the Department of National Defence base in Nanoose Bay, was on shift on Monday night.
He was on his way to Winchelsea Island when he received a call from the Rescue Coordination Centre in Victoria saying a person was reported in the water near Wallace Point.
“We had just passed that area so I immediately turned around and went back,” Wilson said.
“We didn’t see anybody out towards Maud Island, connected with the Rescue Coordination Centre again and they patched me through to a lady on the beach in Lantzville and she had heard somebody calling for help and she could see what she thought was a capsized boat.”
That witness was able to guide Wilson to the upturned boat.
“We got over towards the shore, we could see the upturned skiff,” he said.
“It was about a 12-foot aluminum skiff, turned upside down. And there was a fellow clinging to the bottom of the bottom, which was the top of the boat. He had a life jacket on.”
Wilson manoeuvred his boat closer to the upturned skiff and threw the man a life ring, which he grabbed.
He said the man was hypothermic and he and his passenger struggled to pull him into their boat.
Wilson did not speak with the man but said he was transported to the nearest hospital for treatment.
B.C. Emergency Health Services said an ambulance responded to the scene and transferred one patient to the hospital.
It is not clear how the man’s boat overturned but Wilson said there was a big swell in the area and the man likely shouldn’t have been on the water in a smaller skiff.
Wilson said it was fortunate the man had a lifejacket on board.
“He was really fortunate that somebody heard him,” he added. “Like if it had been blowing and miserable weather, you know, chances of somebody hearing his call for distress are slim.”
Currie said she was glad she followed her instincts and investigated the sound.
“I think it’s important to not just dismiss things just because something is unusual, don’t ignore it,” she said.
“Someone calling for help, it could be serious. This person’s life was saved because the rescue team got to him before dark, just by random people phoning in.”
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